Blast from the Past: Reykjavík Brothel Shares for Sale

Everyone knows Ólafur Ólafsson, the man who stole a whole bank during the privatisation rush of the early 2000s by pretending to be a German bank (no, really), leading directly to the great banking collapse of 2008, and who is now a major property developer for RVK City (again, really). But shysters (note: From the German “scheisser”) are, of course, nothing new.

In 1943, three men aged 19 to 23 were arrested for various financial crimes. The main evidence against them was, of course, found in a detailed diary one of them had kept (really). Among the charges: attempting to cash a check for 20,000 krónur (1,7 million on the today´s exchange rate) made out in the name of then-Prime Minister Ólafur Thors. Another: convincing a farm boy recently arrived in the big city to invest a considerable sum in their intended brothel, at which establishment he was in return to receive a management position as well as perks.

Most sinisterly, the three intended to rob a taxi driver and murder him with an axe. The plan foundered over arguments as to which one was do the axing. There was also a list of names and addresses of other people to be murdered, describing how and why, but the defendants claimed this was not meant to be taken literally.

Psychiatrists deemed the defendants to be of sound mind and they received sentences ranging from two years to six months. By comparison, Ólafur was sentenced to four and a half years in jail for his various crimes, but remains at large.