Reykjavík Grapevine - ágú. 2020, Blaðsíða 2

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The case of the
fishing company
Samherji hasn't
perhaps caught
the attention of
the world, but if
the details are
true, it has hurt
a lot of people. The company, which
is based in Akureyri, is accused of
grotesque corruption in the African
state Namibia, and hiding its profits
securely in offshore companies instead
of paying taxes to the owners of the fish
around the Namibian coastline i.e. the
Namibian people. The company has
also been accused of bribing ministers
and officials in Namibia and there are
ongoing trials in the country.
All in all, three different countries
have begun to investigate these alle-
gations. Norway is investigating the
shell company and its relationship to
their state-owned bank DNB NOR. The
shell company, entitled Cape Cod FS,
was flagged because its ownership was
unclear. Based in the Marshall Islands,
the company transferred 9 billion ISK
through the Norwegian bank before
said bank stopped doing business with
the company for fear of being involved
in money laundering.
Namibian authorities have already
arrested the top suspects in the case:
the former Minister of Fisheries of
Namibia and his son-in-law. They are
both in custody and have offered to pay
a high amount of money to get out, but
both have been denied bail.
Willem Oliver, investigator at the
Namibian special corruption depart-
ment, stated that their investigation
revealed that Esja Fishing, a daughter
company of Samherji, paid the Minis-
ter's son-in-law 30 million Namibian
dollars—or a quarter of a billion Icelan-
dic krónur. The son-in-law claims that
there is nothing illegal about these
transfers.
But what is happening in connection
to the case in Iceland? Not much really.
No one is in custody. The economic
crime department in Iceland asked
for an interview with the owners of
Samherji some months ago, but we
haven’t heard much more. The Icelan-
dic Minister of Fisheries revealed
shortly after the scandal broke that he
had called the owner of the company,
!orsteinn Már Baldvinsson, and asked
him how he felt—nothing more. The
Minister just wanted to explore his
emotions at the moment as he and
!orsteinn were old friends, and he
himself had worked for Samhverji
some 20 years ago.
It was investigative journalism that
broke the story, lead by a well-known
Icelandic journalist, Helgi Seljan at the
news show Kveikur at RÚV, the national
broadcasting company.
Samherji has denied these allega-
tions from the get-go, and accused RÚV
of witch-hunting.
Samherji struck back in the middle
of August, as we report on page 6. They
have now made a propaganda video in
the disguise of a news documentary and
released it on YouTube. The purpose
was to get their side of the story out,
but it was mainly an aggressive attack
against Helgi, accusing him of fabricat-
ing news in a story from 2012, which is
completely irrelevant to the Namibia
case. These attacks backfired in a spec-
tacular way.
Of course, nothing Helgi reported on
was fabricated and the people of Iceland
instead saw quickly how grave such an
attack against a single journalist truly
is. The only honest way to describe
this scenario is that it was an idiotic
PR failure of an massive company that
should have known better. The story is
nonetheless a timely reminder of how
companies use their money and time
to distort the narrative. This move is
unprecedented in Iceland, and quite
shocking, but it’s a reality many jour-
nalists have to face all around the
world. Samherji should be ashamed.

Valur Grettisson
Editor-in-chief
Idiotic PR
Failure: The
Odd Story Of
Samherji And
YouTube
Elín Elísabet is an illus-
trator and cartoonist
born and raised in
Borgarnes. At the
tender age of 15, Elín
moved to Reykjavík
and hasn’t looked
back, except for the
annual springtime
impulse to move
someplace quiet
and keep chickens.
Elín likes folk music,
stationery, seal vid-
eos, the country of
Ireland, and eggs.
Hannah Jane Cohen is
based out of Iceland
by way of New York.
She's known for her
love of Willa Ford,
David Foster Wallace,
and other such
"intellectuals." Her
visionary work is
known for expand-
ing the definitions of
emotion, introspec-
tion, and above all
else, taste. Hannah is
also the current Drag
King of Iceland, HANS.
Catherine Magnúsdóttir
studies social sci-
ences and came to
the Grapevine for the
internship her stud-
ies mandate. And for
fun of course. When
she’s not reconnect-
ing with her Icelandic
roots, she’s either
watching video es-
says or attempting to
finally come up with
a good story idea
that she can actually
finish writing.
Nico Borbely is
an American-
Italian language and
geography nerd
from Michigan and
Viadana, Lombardy
with stints in several
other countries. He
can usually be found
brewing espresso,
hoarding books,
singing along to
multilingual Disney
videos, or cooking
experimental noodle
dishes.
Sveinbjörn Pálsson
is our Art Director.
He's responsible for
the design of the
magazine and the
cover photography.
When he's not work-
ing here, he DJs as
Terrordisco, hosts
the Funk#átturinn
radio show, or sits at
a table in a Laugarda-
lur café, drinking
copious amounts of
co$ee and thinking
about fonts.
Samuel O'Donnell
Sam is an English
major from The
United States. He
has his Bachelor’s
Degree, and keeps
telling himself that
this is the year he
will begin pursuing
his Master’s. In his
spare time, he enjoys
playing video games,
writing short horror
stories, listening to
all kinds of metal,
and reading.
Andie Sophia Fontaine
has lived in Iceland
since 1999 and has
been reporting since
2003. They were the
first foreign-born
member of the
Icelandic Parliament,
an experience they
recommend for
anyone who wants
to experience a
workplace where
colleagues work tire-
lessly to undermine
each other.
Poppy Askham is a
languages student,
fledgling writer, and
lover of flared jeans
who has fled to Ice-
land in a desperate
bid to escape Boris’
Brexit Britain whilst
she still can. Looking
for a new adventure,
she’s swapped her
hometown Bath
with its crowds of
tourists and famous
hot springs for…
Reykjavik.
Valur Grettisson is
an award-winning
journalist, author
and playwright. He
has been writing for
Icelandic media since
2005. He was also a
theatre critic and
one of the hosts of
the cultural program,
'Djöflaeyjan' at RÚV.
Valur is not to be
confused with the
dreadful football club
that bears the same
name.
COVER PHOTO:
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Alexander Elizarov
GusGus 25 Ára photobook
is currently crowfunding
on karolinafund.com
EDITORIAL
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