Former Kaupthing Chair Stripped Of Order Of The Falcon

Former Interpol fugitive and convicted fraudster Sigurður Einarsson has become the first person to be stripped of the Order of the Falcon.

RÚV reports that the Office of the President announced today that Sigurður’s honour would be revoked. He was originally granted the Order of the Falcon, in 2007, for “leadership in the spread of Iceland’s financial system”.

While the President’s office told reporters in 2010 that it was not considering taking the Order of the Falcon away from Sigurður – even as he was on the run from Interpol – Order chairperson and former Progressive MP Guðni Ágústsson told RÚV last October that they were considering it.

This marks the first time in Icelandic history that anyone has been stripped of the Order of the Falcon.

Last February, Sigurður was found guilty of fraud and market manipulation, and sentenced to four years in prison. Shortly after his conviction, he gave an infamous telephone interview while very likely intoxicated. He is currently serving his sentence in Kvíabryggja prison.