Iceland Names Magistrate To Probe Banks For Fraud

Iceland Names Magistrate To Probe Banks For Fraud

Tuesday March 10th, 2009 / 18h34
REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AFP)--Iceland has appointed a veteran anti-corruption investigator to probe possible fraud within the Arctic country's collapsed banking sector, a government statement said Tuesday.
Eva Joly, currently a special anti-corruption advisor to the Norwegian government and best known for having brought a 1990s corruption scandal at French oil giant Elf to trial, has a staff of four but media quoted her as saying more would be required.
"The minister of justice recommended to the government that Eva Joly would become a special advisor to investigations on economic fraud connected to the collapse of the financial system. The government approved the recommendation," the statement read.
The 65-year-old Joly, who first emigrated from Norway to France as an au-pair, told an open meeting Tuesday at Reykjavik University that the scope and scale of her inquiry would be hampered without additional resources.
"(The investigators) have to be sufficiently many, and they need funds to continue investigations," she was quoted as saying by media. "They will need specialists and competent people to assist with the investigations.
"Today there are four individuals with the special prosecutor and it is a joke," she said.
Investment bank Straumur Burdaras, the last of Iceland's big banks left independent after the state seized control of three others in 2008, said Monday it had been shut down due to liquidity problems.
The government took control of Iceland's three biggest banks - Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir - in October after the over-extended financial sector collapsed in the wake of the global credit crunch.
Iceland, a North Atlantic island of 320,000 people that isn't a member of the European Union, saw its center-right government resign at the end of January amid massive public protests over the country's economic crisis.
An interim left-wing government has been in power since early February and elections are expected to be called soon for April 25.
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Tuesday March 10th, 2009 / 18h34 Source : Dowjones Business News
http://www.easybourse.com/bourse-actualite/marches/iceland-names-magistrate-to-probe-banks-for-fraud-631227

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http://www.lessentiel.lu/news/economie/story/23370577

Act. 10.03.09; 23:04 Pub. 09.03.09; 21:25La fraude porterait sur 40 millions d'euros et aurait été initiée via Lex Life, filiale luxembourgeoise de Landsbanki.
boîte interactive
Dossier: Landsbanki: «Jugement aberrant», selon l'Aleba
Des dizaines de clients de Landsbanki pourraient perdre leurs biens immobiliers suite à une possible fraude initiée via une filiale luxembourgeoise, Lex Life.

Certains d'entre eux veulent porter l'affaire devant la justice luxembourgeoise, selon «Iceland Review». Un avocat se rend chez Landsbanki aujourd'hui. Les plaignants, des retraités avec des biens immobiliers de valeur, se sont vu proposer des placements garantis par ces biens.

Une partie de leur argent était alors investi dans des fonds de Landsbanki. Les clients critiquent la gestion de ces fonds. Avec la faillite de la banque islandaise et de sa succursale luxembourgeoise, les retraités risquent de perdre leurs placements dans Landsbanki mais aussi leurs biens immobiliers. Contacté, Lex Life n'a pas souhaité réagir.