Olafur Thor Hauksson, the District Commissioner of Akranes, has been named special prosecutor to head up the investigation into the collapse of the Icelandic banks, MBL.is reports.
Hauksson was chosen by Minister of Justice Bjorn Bjarnason, in co-operation with an all-party parliamentary committee. The extended deadline for the naming of a head prosecutor passed yesterday.
Hauksson’s new post was created under national law number 135/2008 on the investigation into the suspicion of punishable conduct in the events leading up to, and in connection to, the collapse of the Icelandic banks, whether in relation to financial workers, other legal entities or individuals. The findings of the probe will likely be followed by prosecutions.
Hauksson will take up his new post on 1st February and may not be employed by the state in any other capacity. He will, however, in all likelihood, be allowed to begin again as District Commissioner (Syslumadur) of Akranes at the end of the investigations.
Photo: mbl.is/Einar Falur
Perhaps we shouldn’t use the analogy of the American small-town sheriff. I think that the analogy of the Sheriff of Nottingham is far more accurate. Probably in more ways than one.
[…] der Sheriff des Städtchens Akranes! Zum Bericht (auf Englisch) geht es hier. […]
@Andy
Thanks for the correction with regards to Baugur -woolworths deal.
Athough it is still going to cost to fit out the stores with new freezers etc.
The point I was making was that Baugur group who have a huge debt to Glitnir and others, are still expanding the companies portfolio as the people of Iceland struggle to make ends meet
Baugur hasn’t ‘bought’ any Woolworths stores, Woolworths didn’t have any much if any freehold properties left to sell. Baugur have bought out the leases on ex-Woolworths stores from the administrator, i.e. bought the right to rent that retail space and perhaps turn it into profitable outlets, something that WW evidently couldn’t do in those locations.
The lates scandal is that people in KB are now looking for 25 billion Isk that have gone missing,
this is payment for 5,1% in KB that some Emirs brother in Quatar bought in september
Dont worry, ther’s a new Sheriff in town
you will probably see him in tomorrows paper holding a very large moneybag, he has a task force of specially trained sheep that will sniff out lost money, they were initially supposed to be drug sheep but liked the stuff too much.
“THE ICELANDIC JOB”
INTRIGUE, GANGSTERS, MAFIA, CORRUPTION, SCANDAL, DEFAULT OF BILLIONS, PROSTITUTION, COACTION, LIES, THE MOVIE WHERE THE BANKS ROB, AND THE CRIMINALS GOVERN
SOON IN THE BEST CINEMAS…
Personally,I think Clint Eastwood (Islandsvinir) should have stayed on awhile after “Flags of Our Fathers”,with his mighty 357 Magnum,and blown some sense into the empty heads of the so-called Parliament.
Do you feel lucky,Geir,David,Arni o.fl.??
The direct link to the program is here
http://www1.nrk.no/nett-tv/indeks/151914
Vilhjalm. To be honest, I don´t think as from Norway´s point of view that they are very keen on a deep “investigation”. We have had our bank crisis and made our regulation after that. Norway and the others are for sure willing to help Iceland forward.
NRK – our state broadcasting – had their “investigation” broadcasted in November 08. The program is a mix of Norwegian and English. On the page there is also some info in icelandic. The shown can be seen free here (high quality i Norway, not sure abroad).
http://www.nrk.no/programmer/tv/brennpunkt/1.6322990
It starts in Miami…
There is also a linked letter from Jon Asgeir on the page.
@Vilhjalm Antonsen
I just wanted to say thankyou forsome excellent posts.
You said- I imagine when Jon Asgeir (one of the main criminals) heard this news, he probably laughed for hours. Maybe he’s still laughing now.
I think Jon Asgeir is indeed laughing.
When this first went down in Iceland, Philip Green(arcadia) flew to Iceland to hold a meeting with Jon Asgeir. There was speculation that he was going to take over some of Jon Asgier,s (Baugur)business.
I think Green insulted him by offering a much smaller value than Baugur wanted.
Jon Asgier (Baugur) are said to have HUGE debt to old Glitnir Bank. Also baugur was heavily involved with Royal Bank Of Scotland and the Scottish national party.
But now the MIGHTY Baugur continues as only last week the supermarket chain Iceland which Asgier owns as bought 55 of the former Woolworth stores which recently went bankrupt in the U.K
I ask myself who is financing this deal?
Although i am sure the cheap frozen food market will probably get stronger in these hard times , as people are cutting down on their grocery budget.
A news link to the deal follows below
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7820981.stm
@Alex
Indeed thanks for your clarification. It makes the story less ridiculous but still, the leader of such a commission needs to be a person with a lot of authority and experience, after all, this is one of the biggest disasters in icelandic history.
Moreover, by allowing foreign experts to do the investigation, the government would prove that it really is interested in having the truth revealed. This does not seem to be the case now.
I would not be surprised if all this is being orchestrated by the present elite. They are desperate to loose their position.
@Alex, yes, technically you are correct. I have since found out that he is a lawyer. Apparently he was the only applicant for the job and he is also the son of a minister. Maybe that inspires a lot of confidence in certain parties in Iceland, but it is still a cruel joke.
Robert Wade said that Iceland needed 6 qualified accounts working for 6 weeks, just to get an initial estimate of the assets and liabilities of the banks. The bank financial history is extremely complicated and requires large squads of qualified foreign “forensic” accountants to unravel what happened. How can you investigate possible crimes if you don’t know about all the transactions that took place? Iceland needs a large contingent of foreign financial regulators and prosecutors (probably from Scandinavia) working together with accountants. Not Barney Fife. Not Matlock either.
I imagine when Jon Asgeir (one of the main criminals) heard this news, he probably laughed for hours. Maybe he’s still laughing now.
A NEW GOVERN NEEDS TO BE ELECTED IN ORDER TO RE-ESTABLISH CREDIBILITY OF THE ICELANDIC SOCIETY AND OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN THIS COUNTRY.
THE CORRELITO NEEDS TO BE OPEN AND ECONOMIC TRANSACTIONS NORMALIZED. IT WILL GO THROUGH A BAD PERIOD BUT IT WILL BE BETTER THAN WE HAVE NOW AND WE ALSO COULD START REBUILDING OUR ECONOMY ON A REALISTIC BASE.
IF I WAS IN CHARGE I WOULD FORM A GOVERN OF CRISIS. TOTALLY FROZE THE POSITIONS OF ANYONE AT THE POWER AND BANKS. AND START AN INVESTIGATION WITH A SELECTED TEAM OF INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS. ALWAYS WITH THE OVERVIEW OF IMF, NORDIC OBSERVERS AND OBSERVERS FROM THE NATIONS WHO HAD SEEN IT CITIZENS AFFECTED ( HOLLAND, UK, LUXEMBURG, GERMANY, ETC…)
THIS INVESTIGATION IS A JOKE. THE QUESTION IS HOW ICELANDERS ARE LETTING ALL OF THIS HAPPEN…
To Alex,
Yes that change does tend to alter my oppinion of the possiblity of his compentence to do the job he has been handed.
Dear readers,
I feel we may be getting caught up in a linguistic problem here rather than a political one.
While the word Sýslumaður is indeed usually translated as ‘sheriff’ – it might be better in this case to call him the ‘District Commissioner’.
The Sýslumaður is not a policeman. He deals with contracts, bankruptcies, dispute resolution, births, deaths and marriages, divorces, custody issues, planning permission, business registration, hospitality licences and many other issues.
The sheriff is, to put it extremely simply, the representative of the state in his particular region. Using this definition, it is perfectly acceptable that a sheriff be put in charge of the investigation. He is the vital link between the state and the people and has unparalleled experience in conflict resolution, business registration and bankruptcy issues.
Please let me know if you find this information helpful. If so, I will update the article to make him sound more qualified and less like a village beat cop.
Thanks for reading IceNews
Alex, editor
I don’t know the man, the brief or the investigation team.
It doesn’t look promising.
Is there any other investigation going on now in Europe?
Is there any investigation into the collapse of virtually the whole banking system in the UK and Ireland in the first week of October last? Surely the legislative investigative arm of the law is coming down like a ton of bricks onto the banking and investment sector?
Have the UK gov conducted an enquiry into the Banking scam of Icesave deposits, eg. in the UK or Guernsey?
Surely the UK Gov have nothing to hide from their citizens, (or any other State for that matter)?
Surely those citizens must be demanding enquiries (aka cover ups) into that which is costing them an ever increasing number of €Bns
They should have apointed GUS.
That was a good one Terry!!!
Dear Olafur Thor Hauksson
Your order has been dispatched. You can view or change the order on the below link
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Economics-Dummies-Sean-Masaki-Flynn/dp/0764557262
Thank you for shopping with Amazon
BTW, THIS GUY REALLY KNOWS WHAT TO DO, AS THEY HAVE ALREADY TOLD HIM WHAT AND HOW TO DO IT.
THIS IS WHEN REALITY OVERCOMES FICTION… THEY SHOULD MOVE HOLLYWOOD OVER HERE AS THE ARE PLENTY OF GOOD ACTORS, CLOWNS, MAFIA GANGSTERS, MONEY ROBBERY AND PROSTITUTION.
I CAN SEE THE TITLES IN BIG LETTERS AT THE OSCARS CEREMONY:
” THE ICELANDIC JOB”
AND ACTIOONNNNNN!!
THAT GUY EVEN HAS PROBLEMS REMEMBERING THE WAY BACK HOME AFTER WORK AND NOW THEY PUT HIM TO INVESTIGATE ALL THIS HUGE MESS…
UNBELIEVABLE….
WELL, ALL THIS THEATER IS SUCH A GOOD ENTERTAINMENT, WE ARE SAVING LOTS OF MONEY BECAUSE WE DON’T NEED TO PURCHASE AMERICAN TV REALITY SHOWS OR DRAMA-COMEDY SERIALS… WE HAVE THEM HERE IN REAL LIFE AND THEY ARE VERY CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE.
HURRA! HURRA! HURRA! LONG LIFE TO THE CLOWNS AT THE PARLIAMENT…
@Øystein
Do not feel offended. It is just ridiculous that anybody whose previous working experience was not beyond giving the local drunks a ride home and locating lost sheep will be investigating the whole web of intrigues, corruption and incompetence that ruined an entire country.
Oystein. Unless he has led a double life (by day a mild-mannered village policeman, by night a crime-fighting economist), he has no experience of financial matters.
Of course the problem is that with such a small pool to draw from, there’s unlikely to be any sufficiently qualified Icelandic people who aren’t potentially in some way involved.
@Øystein
OK, you are from a village with 5000 people, do you think you would be qualified to investigate a case that , as somebody above has put it, is bigger than ENRON??
I would be utterly unqualified too and I am from a town of 300.000.
Come on, it is a joke! A huge commission of independent experts is necessary for this!
Especially because, as the article puts it, this poor guy will have to begg inorder to get back his present job again…some independence!
This just proves once more that sadly, Iceland is ruled by clowns who do not care at all about the population.
If he brings in a half dozen forensic auditors from the mainland and turns them loose then fine, otherwise we are back to the bullshi* mode!
… by definition, a local cop is just that, a local cop.
Well, at worst his investigation will be nothing less than a freak show and at best pure entertainment.
[…] Although councils are above the free-market motivations of quick profits and big risk-taking, their funds are not. They need to keep their money somewhere before it’s spent on relaying the B316 for the third time in a year. Many lost a lot of money in the Icelandic banking collapse. […]
“local cop”
Niels – as I also live in a village with 5000 i Norway I just wonder why that should disqualify him to do this job. I don´t know anything about Olafur Thor Hauksson, but I don´t see anything in the article that disqualify him. An economist may say they need an economist – because it is about money, a lawyer may say a laywer because it is about justice, those with a lot of debt may say we need a person we can trust. A “local cob” can really be a good choice.
Olfaur Thor who .. Ummmn, I wonder which politician/disgraced banker he is related to.
If, for some unfortunate reason you happen to be driving through the “village” of Akranes and blink you will miss it.
This is all so farcical you just couldn’t make it up.
What a surprise. That should make sure that everybody’s involvement except Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson’s gets swept under the carpet.
Yeeehaawww! We´re a gonna get a posse and round up all them nasty bankers (unless they are my cousins or in some way related to me, or give me the offer of a better job/shares when this is all said and done)
I don’t understand why they didn’t get the local Reykjavik High School Janitor to do this, they would have saved a lot of money, and quite possibly found someone more qualified.
It sounds like an April fools yoke but it only January. This has to be a yoke!
WTF… why didn´t they apponted spartakus better?
The Government and Banks will help him to reach the right conclusion!
Sadly this is true, Iceland has been hijacked by a gang of thieves and they seem to be very well organized, im starting to think the use of British terrorist law was a good idea and should have been followed by a invasion,
we would have survived that.
Correction
*minister of Finance
Just great. Iceland has selected Barney Fife to investigate and prosecute the biggest case in the nations history.
Next we will find out the newly selected judge (the son of David Odddson, head of the Central Bank) will preside. Yea the judge that was selected by the veterinarian that is the Minister of Iceland.
I don´t know anymore, if this is funny or sad.
This is the funniest news of the week!
I can finally sleep well knowing that it will be all sorted it out and “The findings of the probe will likely be followed by prosecutions”.
yeah, right!
Is for me a surprise that this is happen to Iceland.
How the population let this happen? Why in some nice country like Iceland, where the culture and education is too visible, the economy is colapse?
Bad administration and ignorance. Sorry.
Florida.Magdalena
Is it a joke? They are joking! Country is ruined and they joke!
It would be an absolute scandal!
How many things is necessary to hide?!
LOL, lame, lame, Iceland did it again!! ROFL
@Vilhjalm Antonsen
“and the Icelandic government appoints a small town policeman, not even an accountant or lawyer, to prosecute the wrongdoers. And he’s supposed to do it by himself.”
Of course not Vilhjalm. The Government and Banks will help him to reach the right conclusion!
???
I understand that the whole kreppa is being investigated by the local cop from a village with 5000 people
???
And icelanders are lecturing the EU on its failure to fight corruption….Fisy eat your heart out.
The whole bunch of clowns should be sent to the international tribunal in The Hague, sharing the local prison with Karadzic!
That’s where the investigation should take place.
BTW the heating in this prison does not work too well so they would have to pack well.
That’s just great. You have one of the largest and most complex financial swindles in history, larger than Enron, and the Icelandic government appoints a small town policeman, not even an accountant or lawyer, to prosecute the wrongdoers. And he’s supposed to do it by himself.
Incredible. Iceland truly is a banana republic.