Wikborg Rein gætir hagsmuna Samherja í Namibíu

Lögfræðifyrirtækið sem Samherji hefur fengið til að skoða meinta brotastarfsemi fyrirtækisins í Namibíu vinnur á sama tíma við að verja fjárhagslega hagsmuni Samherja í landinu.

Í aðdraganda umfjöllunar málsins tilkynnti Samherji að fyrirtækið hefði ráðið alþjóðlegu lögmannsstofuna Wikborg Rein í Noregi til að framkvæma ítarlega rannsókna á starfsemi fyrirtækisins í Afríku. Eftir að umfjöllunin hafði verið sýnd steig Þorsteinn Már Baldvinsson til hliðar sem forstjóri fyrirtæksins, meðal annars til að gefa Wikborg Rein frið til að skoða málið.

Boðað var að ekkert yrði undanskilið í þeirri rannsókn. Þessi orð Samherja um innri rannsókn Wikborg Rein voru gagnrýnd og þótti mörgum ótrúverðugt að rannsókn lögmannsstofunnar myndi skila öðru en því sem kæmi Samherja vel. Björgólfur Jóhannsson settur forstjóri Samherja furðaði sig á þeirri gagnrýni. Í viðtali við Viðskiptablaðið líkti hann sambandi Samherja og lögmannsstofunnar við það þegar endurskoðandi undirritar ársreikning fyrirtækja.

Beita sér í kyrrsetningarmálinu

Lögmenn Wikborg Rein hafa þó ekki einungis staðið í þessari rannsókn fyrir Samherja. Það sýna skjöl sem fréttastofa hefur undir höndum. Lögmannsstofan hefur varið hagsmuni Samherja í máli sem tengist kyrrsetningu skipsins Heinaste í Namibíu. Skipið, sem er í eigu dótturfélags Samherja, var kyrrsett í nóvember eftir að hafa verið sakað um ólöglegar veiðar. Samherji hefur unnið að því að fá kyrrsetningunni aflétt á þeim grundvelli að sala á skipinu fyrir 20 milljónir Bandaríkjadollara hefði verið samþykkt.

Yfirlýsing barst þó dómstólum í Nambíu í síðustu viku frá rússnesku fyrirtæki, Preobrazenskaya, sem hafði gert kauptilboð. Með yfirlýsingunni var að finna samskipti við lögmenn Samherja í Namibíu þar sem kaupandinn fór fram á að dómstólum yrði gerð grein fyrir að kauptilboðið hefði verið dregið til baka. Ástæðan væri meðal annars forsendubrestur vegna kyrrsetningar skipsins og Samherjamálsins.

Vegna ásakana óttaðist kaupandinn að geta ekki notað skipið eins og hann vildi. Hefði kaupandinn vitað af Samherjamálinu hefði hann aldrei gert tilboð.

„Ásakanirnar gegn Samherja og dótturfélaga eru verulegar. Til vitnis um það eru handtökur á fyrrverandi sjávarútvegsráðherra Nambíu og öðrum tengdum málinu,“ segir í yfirlýsingunni sem lögmaður rússneska félagsins sendi dómstólum vegna kyrrsetningarmálsins.

Segist starfa fyrir Samherja

Skjölin sýna hvernig yfirlýsingin er áframsend á lögmann Wikborg Rein. Sagðist lögmaður Wikborg Rein starfa fyrir hönd seljenda Heinaste og Samherja.

Lögmaðurinn hafnar kröfu kaupandans og segir málið á hendur Samherja eingöngu ásakanir á þessu stigi. Ekkert sé sannað. Kauptilboðið standi og ekki fáist séð hvernig kyrrsetningin eða Samherjamálið breyti því.

Vörn Samherja í kyrrsetningarmálinu náði þó ekki að breyta skoðun dómarans því ákvörðun hans um kyrrsetningu Heinaste stendur enn.

Munu birta stjórninni niðurstöðurnar

Í svar frá Wikborg Rein við fyrirspurn fréttastofu segir að innri rannsóknir, á borð við þá sem lögmannsstofan framkvæmir fyrir Samherja, séu algengar erlendis í slíkum málum. Þær séu þó mismunandi eftir aðstæðum og þörfum fyrirtækisins sem óskar eftir slíku.

Þar segir að þrátt fyrir að Wikborg Rein eigi sér langa hefð þegar kemur að samstarfi við ákæruvald og að birta saksóknurum niðurstöður innri rannsókna, þá gangi stofan ekki út frá því að yfirvöld né saksóknarar byggi ákvarðanir sínar um að ákæra eða hætta rannsókn eingöngu á sínum niðurstöðum.

Í svarinu segir Geir Swiggum, stjórnarformaður Wiborg Rein, að lögmannsstofan muni birta stjórn Samherja allar sínar niðurstöður, sama hverjar þær eru, og það sé síðan í höndum stjórnarinnar hvert framhaldið á því verður. Tekur Swiggum fram að stjórnin og yfirmenn Samherja hafi verið skýr í sínum yfirlýsingum að vilja vera gagnsæ gagnvart yfirvöldum varðandi þær niðurstöður.

Í svarinu segir jafnframt að þó niðurstöður Wikborg Rein í gegnum tíðina hafi reynst hjálplegar þá sé ítrekað að það sé í höndum yfirvalda að fara yfir og meta þær.

Svar Wikborg Rein má sjá í heild sinni hér fyrir neðan:

„You are correct that there is an ongoing corporate investigation into the allegations which parts of the Samherji group is faced with. Such investigations are frequent and common internationally in these types of situations. They do however take different forms depending on the situation and the needs of the company. I will below elaborate a bit on how the work is being performed in this matter.

The Samherji board of directors' main focus now is to (i) reveal all relevant facts, (ii) be transparent on such facts towards relevant authorities and stakeholders and (iii) strengthen internal control mechanisms in a further dedication to prevent individuals from being able to expose the company to potential liability going forward. The board has requested that Wikborg Rein assist in relation to the said allegations.

In this respect we are firstly assisting the board in the internal investigation that has been commenced into the alleged facts and the relevant allegations. We have extensive experience in organizing such work on behalf of Nordic companies. The work we are conducting consists of putting a significant number of pieces into a puzzle in order to establish the clearest possible objective factual overview for the board in terms of what has happened. This includes reviewing large amounts of documentation, reviewing bank transfers, analysing ownership behind various legal entities, conducting interviews, etc. It will take time to clarify the full picture.

Pending this work we have established a very good and close dialogue with a number of stakeholders. Such stakeholders include contracting parties, auditors, banks, lawyers in other jurisdictions and prosecuting authorities in several countries.

The Samherji board and management have been clear in their statements that they will be transparent towards authorities of interest in all relevant jurisdictions with regard to our findings. Our work will be presented to such authorities. Whether information from our work can be published will need to be considered based on a number of factors, including whether publishing information will jeopardize ongoing investigations by public authorities in any country, whether publishing certain information will infringe upon laws and regulations concerning protection of individuals mentioned in any findings, etc. All such questions will be discussed thoroughly with relevant authorities at such time.

Despite our long tradition in cooperating with prosecuting authorities and presenting them with findings from corporate investigations, we do not expect prosecuting authorities to either prosecute anyone or dismiss any case solely based on our findings. Considering the severity of the allegations, authorities, auditors and other stakeholders will not, and should not, be able to conclude and settle this matter based on our work only. We are being very open with the authorities on how we are conducting our work and how facts are being revealed during the course of such work, down to particular details on how we secure evidence, interviews conducted, etc. But we are not prosecutors, nor are we judges.

So we expect that all relevant prosecuting authorities will conduct their own investigations according to applicable laws. Our work is normally a helpful basis for such further processes, but it is merely one of several elements. Authorities will need to verify and independently assess the quality of the facts and evidence presented. We have experienced in the past that it has taken more than two years from the time we presented our findings to authorities until a case against the relevant company was eventually dismissed.

So to be clear; Wikborg Rein is not conducting an external investigation following which we will produce a report that will be made public in its entirety. We are assisting the company in investigating the matter and providing relevant authorities with the results of such fact-finding. The conclusion on whether any wrongdoing was made, and the consequences thereof, will eventually need to be made by relevant authorities.

You ask whether we also perform other tasks, beyond our assistance into pure fact-finding.

All work we are doing is related to the allegations against the Samherji group. The matter is urgent, all work-streams are closely interlinked and it is practical that the same advisors organize all work. So while we are investigating historic events, we are advising on tightly connected current and future aspects, in the interest of all stakeholders.

Firstly; the Samherji group and all relevant stakeholders have an interest in preventing any further wrongdoing, if such has been made in the past. In parallel with our findings we are therefore working with Samherji in instituting enhanced business partner due diligence procedures for i.a. the company's Namibian business. Further, we will be working with Samherji to develop and institute enhanced company-wide compliance and control procedures. This is part of the Samherji group's current mitigating efforts to protect the group against future exposure from wrongdoing by individuals.

Secondly, Samherji has accelerated its plans to exit Namibia. It is important to the company and its board that such exit happens in a compliant manner. We are therefore engaging with relevant authorities in several countries to inform them about the plans for a possible exit from Namibia. There will likely also be formal approval processes in several jurisdictions before an exit is agreed and completed. We are assisting Samherji in conducting such exit in the most compliant manner possible. This includes keeping contact with applicable authorities in several countries, as well as other measures that are necessary in order to prepare for exit from the Namibian assets in a prudent manner.

I trust this answers your questions. The roles we have in this matter are thoroughly assessed internally from a compliance- and ethical perspective. They are also according to the wishes of the Samherji board. And equally important; public authorities, who will receive and rely on facts from the investigation we assist in, are and will be fully informed of the various work-streams we are involved in."