They giggle and drink bottle after bottle of expensive wine, blithely unconcerned by the
turmoil around them.
This was Icelandic billionaire Jon Asgeir Johannesson, dressed casually in black, legs outstretched, and his merry court at 1am yesterday, holed up in a chic hotel in the capital Reykjavik.
His failed bank Glitnir, of which he is the majority shareholder, owes millions of pounds to British investors, including companies, town halls, police authorities and charities.
在国家面临破产威胁、民众生活困苦不堪的时刻，冰岛亿万富翁、银行家扬·艾斯格·约翰森却携妻子朋友前往旅馆寻欢。批评家称他们是：“正在地狱中享受最后日子的恶魔。”
携妻待友品美食贵酒
约翰森是冰岛第三大商业银行格里特利尔(Glitnir)银行的主要股东，由于该银行破产，目前亏欠英国公司、市政厅、警察部门以及慈善机构等数百万英镑。但他与妻子、超市巨头的女儿英依比约格·保尔马多蒂尔似乎对此并不担心，反而逍遥地在冰岛首都雷克雅未克一家别致的旅馆招待一些高层朋友。除了约翰森夫妇外，参加聚会的还包括格里特利尔银行前股东索尔斯泰恩·詹森、媒体大亨阿里·爱德华德以及雷克雅未克市前市长奥拉维尔·马格努森。这些人品尝着美食螯虾，一瓶接一瓶地喝着昂贵的葡萄酒(每瓶85英镑，约合1275元人民币)，无所顾忌地开怀大笑，似乎一点儿也不担心金融危机。
一名年长的用餐者批评称：“在面临如此危机的时刻，他们竟然还能一瓶接一瓶喝如此昂贵的酒。就是因为他们贪图安逸和无耻，让我们国家陷入危机。那里就像地狱，我看着这些小恶魔享受它们在地狱中的最后日子。”
约翰森现年41岁，早在2003年，冰岛总理大卫·奥德松就曾谴责其行贿250万英镑；2007年，他又因为做假帐被判刑，缓刑三个月执行。但他现在却依然开着豪华宾利轿车，住着装有防弹玻璃的三层别墅。他的妻子绰号“白珍珠”，拥有豪华游艇和特别定制的白色梅赛德斯奔弛车。
冰岛人均欠债11.6万英镑
约翰森曾经就读的顶级商业名校Verzlunar Skoli学校的副校长也讽刺说：“我猜想，你们一定很想知道我们如何培育出这样一个妖怪的。”约翰森毕业后，凭借8000英镑贷款开了一家出售烘豆和可口可乐的商店。随后又将这家店发展成连锁店；90年代成立冰岛投资集团Baugur Group。他雇佣了50000人，总资产达到60亿英镑，几乎拥有英国豪华商业区一半的股份。冰岛曾是世界上人均收入最高的国家之一，受此次金融危机的影响，现房无人愿买，昂贵的汽车无人开。据说，冰岛银行外债已经达到该国国民生产总值的12倍！冰岛现在欠英国200亿英镑、欠其他国家150亿英镑，面临国家破产的边缘。32万冰岛居民中，每人平均欠下11.6万英镑外债。很多人破产，甚至被迫自杀。
Drowning their sorrows in a chic hotel at 1am - the billionaire, his blonde wife and the friends who helped bring Iceland to the brink of bankruptcy
But while Reykjavik burns and its assets freeze, The Mail on Sunday found Mr Johannesson still doing nicely – evidenced by the ?85 bottles of white wine on his table.
The 41-year-old, who was found guilty of false accounting last year, drives a Bentley and lives in a three-storey Reykjavik mansion that boasts a bullet-proof room in case of attack. Some people half joke that he may yet need it.
He is one half of Iceland’s most glamorous couple: his 47-year-old wife is Ingibjorg Palmadottir, who owns a yacht which she moors in the Caribbean and drives a customised white Mercedes known in Reykjavik as the White Pearl.