Baugur charges thrown out
An Icelandic court has thrown out all 40 charges brought against Jon Asgeir Johannesson, the chief of the retailing group Baugur, and five others.
Iceland’s state prosecutor, Jon Snorrason, said he would consider appealing to the supreme court against the ruling in an effort to put the case against the Baugur six back on track, reports [i]The Guardian[/i] today.
The Icelandic retailer, which owns British retail interests including Hamleys toy shop and the Karen Millen fashion chain, welcomed the court’s decision. “The company has always supported Jon Asgeir and the other defendants. It has stood firmly by them and never doubted their innocence,” a Baugur spokesman said.
The Icelandic authorities brought the charges in July after a three-year investigation by Iceland’s economic crime unit. A fortnight ago the judge presiding over the case against the Baugur six told the prosecution that he believed 18 of the 40 charges brought were flawed.
Last week the prosecution argued before the court why the charges should stand. But after considering those arguments, the court has now gone even further and thrown the entire case out.
Baugur believes the investigation has caused the company significant economic loss. In August 2002 Baugur was forced to withdraw from a joint bid with the retail entrepreneur Philip Green for the Arcadia clothes shops chain after the investigation was first launched.
Three years later it was forced to withdraw from a consortium considering a bid for Somerfield, the supermarket chain, when the Icelandic authorities finally brought charges against the Baugur six.
