Sigurdur Thordarson, a WikiLeaks volunteer turned FBI informant and presumed witness in the U.S. government's case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, is being sued in Iceland for submitting falsified documents, Stundin has learned. Thordarson's lawyer claims his signature was forged on filings to the tax authorities to indicate payments of starting capital for two real estate companies.
The lawyer, Gudmundur St. Ragnarsson, signed a document for Thordarson's company, Regnum, certifying capital of 500 thousand ISK, approximately 3,900 U.S. dollars. He claims his signature was forged on documents filed five days later to Icelandic tax authorities, claiming a starting capital of 50 million ISK, or 388,000 USD, in the company and again in a second company, Robus, for a total of 100 million ISK, or 776,000 USD.
Two of Thordarson's business partners told Stundin that he duped them about the incoming capital and forged the signatures in order to complete a real estate deal which never ended up taking place.
Thordarson, nicknamed "Siggi the hacker" for his role in several high profile leaks, is involved with six legal entities now, some of which are registered in famous office buildings in Reykjavík, but with no physical presence there. In 2014, Thordarson was sentenced to two years in prison for fraud after charging goods and services to a company using a fake name. He was ordered to repay 15 million ISK, the equivalent of 116 thousand USD, with almost half the amount to be repayed to WikiLeaks.
Thordarson was also sentenced to 8 months in prison in 2013 for soliciting sex from a minor. In 2015 he was sentenced to three years in prison for similar conduct towards nine boys, most of them aged 15 to 17, offering them money, cars and properties in exchange for sex. He was released in 2016. Since then, he has officially changed his name, removing his middle name Ingi from the national registry.
Linked to six legal entities
The business partners at Regnum and Robus say that they've been helping Thordarson readjust to society since his return from prison. A psychiatric evalution carried out in connection with his fraud case stated that he was sociopathic and was unable to experience regret or shame.
Thordarson's partners and Ragnarsson say that no one was harmed by Thordarson's actions and that no business was ever conducted on behalf of the companies. Now they are in the process of filing correct documents to rectify the false claim of 100 million ISK in starting capital. "When that is done I will sue and that's in progress now," says Ragnarsson.
"When that is done I will sue and that's in progress now"
Thordarson is connected to four more legal entities, most of which were founded or acquired by him in the last year. Two of them are registered at notable office buildings in Reykjavík. One of the companies is now in bankruptcy proceedings and Thordarson's board alternate is another man who has been sentenced for sexual abuse of minors.
Interviewed by U.S. prosecutors in 2019
Despite only being 28 years old, Thordarson has been in the public eye for over a decade. He first came to prominence as a teenager after leaking documents related to the Icelandic financial crash of 2008. He became a volunteer for WikiLeaks, but turned paid informant for the FBI. In 2011, FBI agents came to Iceland to interview him and he supplied them with information from inside WikiLeaks. At the time, U.S. authorities had started investigating Assange.
Last year, The Washington Post stated that prosecutors interviewed Thordarson again in 2019 and subsequently broadened their case against Assange, claiming that he asked Thordarson to illegally obtain recordings of phone conversations between politicians in a foreign country. The Icelandic government is also said to have agreed to U.S. authorities creating fake classified documents for an informant to feed to Assange. Aslaug Arna Sigurbjornsdottir, Iceland's minister of justice, has stated that the government did not authorize such activity.
Athugasemdir