The fall from grace of the Icelandic raider

Jon Asgeir Johannesson is the Icelandic mogul who bought up vast swaths of the British high street. Now he's accused of a €2bn conspiracy to siphon money from Iceland's banking system.

At the height of his fame, Jon Asgeir Johannesson seemed untouchable, says The Daily Telegraph. The Icelandic mogul's apparently endless pots of cash allowed him to dominate Britain's high street. But now, Johannesson stands accused of leading "a sweeping conspiracy" to seize control of, and siphon $2bn from, the collapsed Icelandic bank Glitnir. The bank, it is alleged, was "robbed from the inside".

The "sensational" lawsuit, filed in New York by Glitnir's winding up committee, "paints a picture of a bank that became a personal fiefdom", says The Observer. Johannesson, whose glamorous wife, Ingibjorg Palmadottir, is named as a co-defendant in the suit, denies the allegations. He may yet prove his case.

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