Landsbanki 'illegally' moved funds just before its collapse.

A letter from the Landsbanki resolution committee to the directors of the bank detailed how £174m was moved out of the bank on the day it was effectively nationalised.

The majority of the money was paid to institutions owned or controlled by Thor Björgólfsson and his father Björgólfur Guömundsson – majority shareholders but not directors of Landsbanki.

Despite the collapse of Landsbanki, Thor Björgólfsson, now London-based, remains one of the richest men in the world with a fortune estimated at $1bn.

The revelation of multi-million pound transfers comes as the people of Iceland prepare to vote on whether to repay £2.3bn lost in the collapse of Landsbanki's UK subsidiary Icesave to the UK Government. Last year Iceland overwhelmingly voted to reject a similar repayment package.

The letter from the resolution committee to the directors of Landsbanki is being seen by many in Iceland as a first step towards legal proceedings being instigated.

The letter states: "The bank's board members and directors should have been fully aware that on October 6 2008 the bank was completely insolvent. It is our conclusion that the aforementioned transactions acted to devalue the bank's assets and caused disparity among the creditors and were thus unlawful."

Many of the transfers prior to the collapse of Landsbanki were made to Straumur, an investment bank majority owned by Thor Björgólfsson and his father through an investment vehicle, Samson.

The letter details how one £47m loan to Straumur was made after Landsbanki had closed on October 6. Although the facility for the loan had been in place for more than 18 months it was not until minutes before the prime minister of Iceland appeared on national television to announce the collapse of the country's financial system that a request was made for payment. The full amount was transferred from Landsbanki to Straumur well over an hour after both Landsbanki and the Central bank of Iceland had closed.

The letter containing these findings and allegations of unlawful conduct was sent by the resolution committee to the board of Landsbanki in February. It gave the board two weeks to respond to the allegations. The board of Landsbanki is understood to have rejected the allegations.

As The Sunday Telegraph reported last weekend the Serious Fraud Office has started an investigation into the collapse of Landsbanki and the movement of funds in the period immediately before its collapse.

The investigation comes shortly after the SFO raided the offices and homes of entrepreneurs Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz. The brothers were arrested as part of an investigation into the collapse of Kaupthing. They deny any wrongdoing.

A spokesman for Mr Björgólfsson said: "The resolution committee and the Winding-up Board of Landsbanki have disputed the decision of the management of Landsbanki to advance loans to Straumur Investment Bank on the 6th of October 2008. No report indicates that this decision has been under investigation by the Special Prosecutor in Iceland or an equivalent office.

"Thor Björgólfsson was never a director at Landsbanki and therefore had no part in any decision about transfer of funds. However, he is aware that the management of Landsbanki, in their letter to the resolution committee and the winding-up board, has refuted all allegations of unlawful conduct."

NEI og aftur NEI við Icesave og þessum þjófnaði !