In the asset freezing case brought by Glitnir Bank against Jon Asgeir Johannesson, it was not known who had GBP 202 million in British bank accounts connected to Johannesson’s UK business. He now intends to bring charges against the head of Glitnir’s resolution committee for saying that he had the money himself.
He intends to sue Steinunn Gudbjartsdottir over what he calls “lies under oath” when she said that he possibly had ISK 40 billion to hand.
Interestingly though, Glitnir’s lawyer did not mention the money in court last Friday in London when the freezing order was under discussion. On the other hand, it is known that Gudbjartsdottir was unaware of who had the GBP 202 million back in May when the freezing order on Johannesson’s assets was first imposed.
Jon Asgeir discussed the money in emails with Glitnir chiefs Jon Sigurdsson and Larus Welding just before the banking crisis in autumn 2008, which raised suspicions that he was in possession of the cash. As Glitnir’s biggest shareholder, the bank’s resolution committee is attempting to recover money from Johannesson for, “robbing the bank from within”. Johannesson claimed in a London court last week that he is down to his last million pounds.
RUV reports that he attempted to set the record straight in June this year, saying that the money had always been in the possession of Iceland Foods in the UK; but he did not provide evidence of this.
Malcolm Walker, President of Iceland Foods, who Jon Asgeir and associates hired to his post, has now confirmed that the company has the money and provided bank statements to back it up. Jon Asgeir Johannesson sat on the board of Iceland Foods until this May, resigning over the freezing of his assets.
Questions are still being asked about why the confirmation of the money’s whereabouts was not forthcoming sooner and, as Johannesson’s emails have not been released, why he sent them in the first place.
Due to this one issue, the court decided to relieve the freezing order on Johannesson’s assets last Friday. But the judge stated he was not convinced that the defendant is down to his last million – if only because his legal costs for fighting the freezing order were in the region of GBP 600,000.
The freezing order saga is now over, but the Glitnir resolution committee is apparently preparing a new case, details of which are expected soon.
