The Special Prosecutors’ Office has filed charges in the so-called Al-Thani case, which pertains to the purchase of a five percent share in Kaupthing Bank in late September 2008, merely two weeks before the banking system’s collapse, vísir.is reports.

Q Iceland Finance, the holding company of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, was initially said to have bought a 5.01 percent share in Kaupthing but later it was revealed that Kaupthing itself financed the majority of the purchase. The case has been under investigation ever since the collapse, or more than three years.

According to a statement released at the time of the transaction, Q Iceland Finance bought a total of 37.1 million shares at the rate of ISK 690 per share.

Former president of Kaupthing, Hreiðar Már Sigurðsson, former chairman of Kaupthing, Sigurður Einarsson, former president of Kaupthing Luxembourg, Magnús Guðmundsson, and Ólafur Ólafsson, who was the bank’s second largest shareholder, are the accused, vísir.is also reports.

The first two have been charged with mandate fraud, Magnús for participating in mandate fraud and Ólafur for participating in mandate fraud but as a reserve cover up and money laundering.

In addition, all four have been charged with market abuse, i.e. for falsely making it appear that a known Qatari investor had submitted funds to purchase the share and been fully accountable for the financial risk it entailed.

Sigurður and Hreiðar are believed to have organized the offenses.

ÁA