Court holds complex hearing in Landsbanki case with 71 defendants

A preliminary hearing in the Landsbanki case, in which 71 people are charged, filled the largest courtroom at Reykjavík District Court, mbl.is reported. Proceedings were also streamed to a second courtroom for defendants and defence lawyers who could not fit in the main room.

Two men are accused of exploiting a flaw in Landsbanki’s online banking system to transfer more than 120 million krónur. They denied the charges at the case’s formal opening last week. Four others are alleged to have played key roles in passing the money on to other people; they also deny the most serious charges.

The indictment says the two men made 218 transfers totalling 120.3 million krónur between October 11 and 28, 2025. The alleged unlawful gain was 95.6 million krónur.

The judge said the hearing was being held for defendants who had not yet stated their positions, including some who had postponed their decisions or did not have lawyers. It was also intended for those planning to plead guilty. Their cases may be dealt with separately as guilty-plea cases, which would mean they and their lawyers would not need to attend later hearings or the main trial.

The first defendants to appear were among the 65 not considered key actors in the case. They are accused of involvement in the money-laundering part of the case by receiving transfers and withdrawing the money in cash. Two of the first three admitted offences but said they had acted negligently. The prosecutor said a 30-day sentence would be appropriate, leaving it to the court to decide whether it should be suspended. Their lawyers also called for suspended 30-day sentences. The third defendant appeared without a lawyer and asked for one to be appointed.

The hearing has an unusual format because of the number of defendants, with interpreters and assistants helping them and their lawyers. It was expected to last four hours, compared with the five to 20 minutes typical of preliminary hearings.