THE law firm Wikborg Rein aims to make sure Samherji comes out of the investigation into alleged corruption and money laundering as a stronger and more sustainable company.
This is according to a representative of the company who talked to RÚV (the Icelandic national broadcasting service). Samherji appointed Wikborg Rein to conduct an internal investigation into its own operations.
The Norwegian law firm Wikborg Rein was appointed by the board of Samherji to investigate the fishing company’s activities in Namibia and elsewhere, in the wake of the Fishrot scandal. The law firm has been acting on behalf of Samherji in a dispute over the sale of the giant freezer trawler Heinaste.
The buyer wants to cancel the purchase, partly because the ship is directly involved in the corruption and money-laundering allegations scandal.
Evidence was recently submitted to the Namibian courts in the dispute case with Samherji’s co-owners of the Namibian fishing company Arcticnam. The same people who owned a majority stake in Arcticnam also owned a minority stake in the company that owned the ship. Last week it was impounded by the authorities.
Samherji has, since coverage of the Fishrot files came out on Kveikur, Al-Jazeera, and in Stundin, claimed that Wikborg Rein was appointed to investigate the allegations of bribery and money laundering, and is not involved in any other Samherji business. Thorsteinn Mar Baldvinsson, one of the main owners of Samherji, stepped aside temporarily as chairman when the scandal broke.
Heinaste is one of the Samherji boats that fishes off the coast of Namibia, and Kveikur talked about it in November. In that programme it was revealed that the boat caught fish under a quota that was secured by paying people connected to the former minister of fisheries very significant amounts of money.
Samherji has in recent months tried to gain shareholder approval to sell the ship to a group of Russians. That has proven controversial and the Namibian quota holders, co-owners of Arcticnam, have repeatedly brought court charges against the Samherji companies in Namibia over the sale.
An exchange of letters, seen by RÚV, shows that the representative of the Russian company wants to cancel the sale, partly because of the investigation into alleged bribes paid by Samherji. In the letter, the company director says it has been wrongly claimed in court that a sales contract for the boat has already been signed.
Among the evidence there is also a letter from Wikborg Rein, on behalf of Samherji, to the lawyers of the Russian company. That letter states that Wikborg Rein is acting on behalf of Samherji. The letter also mentions the alleged corruption at Samherji, reiterating that they are only allegations at this stage and have not been proven.
In a written reply, current chairman of Samherji, Björgólfur Jóhannsson, says the Wikborg Rein investigation is not an external investigation but an internal one.
The legal firm has also provided legal advice over the case. Björgólfur would not answer repeated questions over whether Wikborg Rein has been appointed to protect the interests of Samherji and instead pointed to the statement the legal firm sent to RÚV.
That statement was an answer to a written enquiry sent to Wikborg Rein this week.
It said that the law firm is working on observations into the activities of Samherji and that that is happening at the request of the fishing company’s board.
It is not in their hands to decide whether Samherji broke the law. That is up to the relevant authorities to decide.
Wikborg Rein says that the goal of its work includes making sure Samherji exits this period as a stronger and more sustainable company.
-RÚV.com
