Swiss prosecutors in Athens to investigate money laundering through Swiss banks

Former PASOK defence minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos

Representatives of the Swiss federal prosecutor's office today began examining former defence minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos, currently in jail over a kickbacks for defence contracts scandal. Tsohatzopoulos would be questioned in the context of an ongoing investigation into a money laundering case involving a Swiss bank employee, it was announced.

Press reports in Athens claim that the Swiss prosecutors' office team also questioned the former minister's cousin and long-time close associate Nikos Zigras, who appears as the beneficiary of Swiss bank accounts through which, according to the Greek justice, illegal money linked with armaments programs was transferred.

Nikos Zigras

According to a report from the state run ANA-MPA news agency, the Swiss investigation focuses on the involvement in the case of a Greek Morgan Stanley employee in Switzerland and the transfer of roughly 30 million CHF through two bank accounts that belonged to Zigras. The likelihood that payments made via Swiss banks were associated with money laundering is also being examined.

After Zigras' questioning, the head of the Swiss team told reporters that the federal prosecutor's office launched an investigation after 2012, when Greek authorities requested access to bank accounts and information relating to these.

He said that the Swiss authorities want to clarify whether charges should be filed against individuals or companies living or based in Switzerland. The prosecutor's office wants to make sure that the seriousness and reputation of Switzerland as a country of bank deposits is not being jeopardized, the Swiss official said.

Zigras' attorneys have filed a petition with Swiss justice requesting the return of 2.2 million euro to the Greek state deposited in a Swiss bank accounts by their client. The response on behalf of the Swiss was that such a request can only be filed by the Greek justice minister directly to his Swiss counterpart, to decide whether the money could be returned to Greece.

In a written statement made public by his attorneys, Zigras noted, among others, that Switzerland “should return the stolen money immediately to the Greek people and stop the hypocritical prosecutions and questioning that are used as an excuse to withhold the money that was stolen from the Greek people.”