On this day in 2016 the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service aired an interview with the Prime Minister of Iceland, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, where he was confronted over his his connections to a mysterious off-shore company registered on British Virgin Islands. His connections to the company were revealed in the Panama Papers leaks, which exposed how wealthy people around the world had hidden enormous fortunes in tax havens.
Read more: Confirmed: Iceland's Prime Minister is indeed resigning
While the interview was part of the coverage of the Panama Papers by RÚV, it was produced by the Swedish TV station which effectively ambushed the PM, turning the conversation to tax avoidance.
Sigmundur Davíð first scrambled to come up with some explanations and answers to the questions, but ultimately just gave up, storming out of the interview, then returning back to argue with the reporter, offering angry responses to the questions, and finally again storming out.
Read more: John Oliver on TV interview with Iceland's former PM: like watching a slow motion car crash”
The bizarre performance added fuel to the flames of public anger over the actual revelations, and helped mobilize the largest public protests in Icelandic history on the next day: As many as 22,000 people showed up in front of the house of parliament the next day to demand Sigmundur Davíð resign. Sigmundur ultimately resigned, and the revelations in the Panama Papers brought an end to the careers of several other politicians.
Watch the interview, which has been described as a slow motion car crash below:
The company, Wintris Inc, was set up by Sigmundur and his wife in 2007 to store millions of dollars in bonds issued by the Icelandic banks, which became claims on the bankrupt banks in 2008.
Although Sigmundur and his wife have both claimed they paid all taxes, they have not yet provided documentation to prove of these claims. In addition to the controversy over whether Sigmundur paid taxes on his holdings, the fact that he owned claims on the estates of the fallen banks at the same time as he was negotiating with the estates on the payment of exit taxes, effectively sitting on both sides of the table, was no less problematic.
John Oliver later skewered the interview on his HBO show Last Week Tonight:
On this day in 2016 the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service aired an interview with the Prime Minister of Iceland, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, where he was confronted over his his connections to a mysterious off-shore company registered on British Virgin Islands. His connections to the company were revealed in the Panama Papers leaks, which exposed how wealthy people around the world had hidden enormous fortunes in tax havens.
Read more: Confirmed: Iceland's Prime Minister is indeed resigning
While the interview was part of the coverage of the Panama Papers by RÚV, it was produced by the Swedish TV station which effectively ambushed the PM, turning the conversation to tax avoidance.
Sigmundur Davíð first scrambled to come up with some explanations and answers to the questions, but ultimately just gave up, storming out of the interview, then returning back to argue with the reporter, offering angry responses to the questions, and finally again storming out.
Read more: John Oliver on TV interview with Iceland's former PM: like watching a slow motion car crash”
The bizarre performance added fuel to the flames of public anger over the actual revelations, and helped mobilize the largest public protests in Icelandic history on the next day: As many as 22,000 people showed up in front of the house of parliament the next day to demand Sigmundur Davíð resign. Sigmundur ultimately resigned, and the revelations in the Panama Papers brought an end to the careers of several other politicians.
Watch the interview, which has been described as a slow motion car crash below:
The company, Wintris Inc, was set up by Sigmundur and his wife in 2007 to store millions of dollars in bonds issued by the Icelandic banks, which became claims on the bankrupt banks in 2008.
Although Sigmundur and his wife have both claimed they paid all taxes, they have not yet provided documentation to prove of these claims. In addition to the controversy over whether Sigmundur paid taxes on his holdings, the fact that he owned claims on the estates of the fallen banks at the same time as he was negotiating with the estates on the payment of exit taxes, effectively sitting on both sides of the table, was no less problematic.
John Oliver later skewered the interview on his HBO show Last Week Tonight:
