Icelandic bank officials and their prison sentences

Many people looked enviously at Iceland after the 2008 bank crisis when, at the instigation of Eva Joly, a Special Prosecutor was appointed to look into the misdemeanours of high-ranking banking officials and the part they had to play in the bank crash.

The process has now basically been completed, although six cases are still before the courts and some bank officials have appealed their sentences to the Supreme Court or even to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

All in all, 36 people have been convicted for a total of 96 years in prison. Of these, 11 received a total of 36 years prison for cases related to Kaupthing (now Arion bank), 7 received a total of 25.25 years in cases related to Glitnir (now Islandsbanki) and 7 received 13 years in total for offences related to Landsbanki.

Hreidar Mar Sigurdsson from Kaupthing and Larus Welding from Glitnir received three convictions for a total of 7 years and 6 years respectively, while Magnus Gudmundsson from Glitnir got 6 years. All three have cases pending. The penalty framework for economic crime cases /bank crash cases is 6 years, which many people feel is unfair as it means that additional sentences do not incur severe penalties – unlike sentences for prisoners in general.

Note that the bank prisoners have been somewhat demanding, to put it mildly, wanting wine with their meals, horse-riding lessons and the like. However, their requests have not been met. And another Kaupthing prisoner, Sigurdur Einarsson, crashed a helicopter when taking a client on a sightseeing trip one weekend while at the halfway house for prisoners. Say no more.

 

Icelandic bankers demand better conditions in prisons

Recently a number of people shared news on social media about 26 Icelandic bankers either facing or currently serving prison sentences. I also wrote about it as soon the figures were released. In fact, a few more have been sentenced since then.

But there’s more to it than just numbers. It’s also what they do once they’re in prison.

A while ago, some prisoners had asked if they could have wine with their meals. Reports did not say which prisoners had demanded wine, but one doesn’t have to be a genius to guess which ones. The answer was no.

The latest demand is somewhat laughable. Some wealthy prisoners had apparently asked the Agricultural University of Iceland if they could do a riding course that is offered by the university. It is a standard course offered by the university and was supposed to start last weekend, using an indoor school at the adjacent farm, but was stopped by the prison authority at the last minute as the course is not available to all prisoners at all prisons. It would have been an expensive course, but the bankers could afford it. Each banker would have had to come up with a horse and saddlery too.

Pall Winkel, director of the Prison and Probation Administration, says that the wealthy prisoners, i.e. bankers, have their own PR people who have several times asked for perks for the bankers that are not available to other prisoners. Winkel says that he is sometimes asked to say a, b and c or NOT to say a, b and c. There is even a new pressure group that wants better conditions for the prisoners, but the authorities are not going to heed to their wishes. Winkel says he’s had all sorts of requests, including access to a wider range of TV stations and yoga classes.

UPDATE: Said bankers are now complaining about the prison administration allowing film-maker Michael Moore to come to Kviabryggja prison, where they are serving their sentences, and interview fellow prisoners about their experience of serving with the bankers.