One of the main figures behind Iceland’s banking boom and bust has been hit by a $2bn US lawsuit that accuses him of a “sweeping conspiracy” that contributed to the collapse of Glitnir Bank.
Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson, the former top shareholder in Glitnir and a big investor in the UK retail sector, is alleged in the lawsuit to have conspired with associates to “fraudulently drain over $2bn out of the bank to fill their pockets and prop up their own failing companies”.
The lawsuit, filed in New York by the winding-up board overseeing Glitnir’s liquidation on behalf of creditors, also targets PwC, the bank’s former accountant, for “facilitating” the fraud by overlooking “clear” violations of Icelandic law and bank policies.