The case was launched in July 2012, after seven banks filed a lawsuit against Lavrentiadis in response to 500 million Euros worth of loans that were issued to fund the sale to the Carlyle investment firm.
Why should we suspect foulplay? Considering the Carlyle Group's recent history, as documented below by Wikipedia, one can only conclude that their dealings with the former Greek entrepreneur were not exactly on the up and up. Read this little bit of information we found on Wikipedia, and then read an article that we had posted on HellasFrappe nearly 3 years ago about this very group, their business dealings with Lavrentiadis and their close ties to the corrupt Greek media.
Quite interestingly, in the documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, Micheal Moore makes nine allegations concerning the Carlyle Group, including: That the Bin Laden and Bush families were both connected to the Group; that following the attacks on September 11, the bin Laden family’s investments in the Carlyle Group became an embarrassment to the Carlyle Group and the family was forced to liquidate their assets with the firm; that the Carlyle group was, in essence, the 11th largest defense contractor in the United States, etc..
Moore basically focused on Carlyle's connections with George H. W. Bush and his Secretary of State James A. Baker III, both of whom had at times served as advisers to the firm.
The movie quotes author Dan Briody claiming that the Carlyle Group "gained" from September 11 because it owned United Defense, a military contractor, although the firm’s $11 billion Crusader artillery rocket system developed for the U.S. Army is one of the few weapons systems canceled by the Bush administration. A Carlyle spokesman noted in 2003 that its 7% interest in defense industries was far less than several other Private equity firms. Carlyle also has provided details on its links with the Bin Laden family, specifically the relatively minor investments by an estranged half brother.
In his documentary The World According to Bush (May 2004), William Karel interviewed Frank Carlucci to discuss the presence of Shafiq bin Laden, Osama bin Laden's estranged brother, at Carlyle's annual investor conference while the September 11 attacks were occurring. Source Wikipedia
How are PASOK, Egnatia Odos, Halliburton, Cheney, Bush connected? Well... The triklopodia blog featured an interesting article recently that could not go unoticed by HellasFrappe. The author began investigating the whereabouts of former PASOK Minister Costas Laliotis, and by doing so he discloses information showing how the socialists, the elite (both in Greece and abroad) and some of the world's most controversial (and war-mongering) companies are all interwoven together like a tight spider's web.
According to the article, PASOK veteran Costa Laliotis (who was the Minister of Public Works under the Costas Simitis government in the 1990s) has disappeared from the face of the earth. Laliotis, who apparently handled (with "absolute" transparency -lol) some 4.3 trillion drachmas has dropped out of the face of this earth. His name is never mentioned in political circles anymore, and it is almost as if PASOK has waived a magic wand and made him disappear. Not even the mainstream media dares to utter his name, and it seems as if they purposely want us to forget he ever existed. Is it because he always raised controversy? After reading this article, we here at HellasFrappe believe that his disappearance is because he completed his mission.
The author on triklopodia said that his inspiration to investigate the story arrived after reading an article on another Greek blog which featured a news story about Greek public works and how these projects would fall under the "Egnatia Odos" SA company. That is when he decided to investigate the story further and much to his surprise, and to ours, he came out with some startling information.
The author first googled the company which was endorsed by Laliotis a decade ago for beginning construction on one of the most contemporary motorways in all of Europe, (but a project that was never finished by Laliotis, but by the Costas Karamanlis administration). When Laliotis was heading the relevant ministry, Greece was a giant construction site with works all over the country (such as the venues for the 2004 Olympic Games, the new airport at Spata, the Rio-Antirio Bridge, etc.)
All these projects were used by PASOK's star deputy Costas Laliotis and the Simitis government to project an image of Greece (and a socialist government) that was strong, that developed the nation and that actually listened and catered to the needs of the people. Anyone who lived in Greece during this period knows very well that the needs of the people were never met. In fact Greece, as we all know today, was in deep financial trouble back then, especially after the stock market scandal in 2000 when trillions of drachmas were literally stolen from the Greek people's pockets.
People of course did not know about the shady contracts -and costs of these works- but luckily for us this was all revealed a couple of years later in official reports, as well as from various opposition parties. According to the evidence, these works cost Greek taxpayers three times more than they would have normally cost us, and quite coincidentally the man who set up all these works was none other than Laliotis together with the Simitis government. In other words if a piece of highway normally cost 1000 a square meter to construct, during Laliotis' reign this cost was multiplied by three and therefore cost us 3000 Euros. Conclusion: These construction companies were making three times more than they usually would on similar projects.
In the same period the management of all related projects under the state owned Egnatia Odos SA were suddenly transferred to the US HALLIBURTON Company (Sound familiar... well look for the names Dick Cheney, George Bush, war in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Skopje, oil, etc... they are all somehow suspiciously affiliated and/or linked to this company).
HALLIBURTON, which changed its name to KBR (with revenues of over $18 billion) never once made its presence known in Greece known, in fact we here at HellasFrappe who read countless reports everyday never once came across their name in Greece until this story appeared on this regional news blog. The author of the story claims that he discovered the involvement of the company through the fine print and more exactly in a sentence mentioning HALLIBURTON on the Egnatia Odos SA profile.
Anyone and everyone knows that this is a company that has made billions of dollars on the genocide that was unleashed in the Balkans against the Serbs and in countries in the Gulf since it has for decades undertaken projects that quite suspiciously are a result of war.
Cheney, who was part of former US President George Bushs' administration, was also President of HALLIBURTON. It is this very company that also undertook the reconstruction of projects in countries that were bombed by the CARLYLE GROUP which was headed by Bush and shareholder George Soros. (So Bush's company bombed, and Cheney's company reconstructed. Bush+Cheney=former government in the US. What a joke this all is.)
These companies piled many countries with huge amounts of debt that had the misfortune to be selected for these types of bloodthirsty wars ($$$ business) - all in the framework of course (yeah right) of peace and democracy.
So how did they penetrate the Greek market? Guess what? The CARLYLE GROUP is associated with Mr.Lavrentiadis. Who is Lavrentiadis?
Some may recall his name from a recent hellasfrappe story about Proton Bank. Following the government’s decision to privatise Proton Bank earlier this year by activating a bank rescue fund, the Greek and foreign press began screaming out the word SCANDAL, comparing this to the Bank of Crete Scandal in 1989. Proton Bank was the first bank to be nationalized under the Financial Stability Fund, a safety net set up by Greece and its international lenders for banks that need to recapitalize but do not have the means to raise funds in the market. The central bank of Greece’s move to nationalize Proton Bank (which is currently under investigation for possible violation of Greece's money-laundering law) sparked controversy because analysts claim that Proton's problems are its own. (Read more HERE)
The author on the Triklopodia blog notes that the CARLYLE GROUP made Lavrentiadis very rich and in return the former Greek entrepreneur bought out media companies under great secrecy. This move, or the involvement of the company through Lavrentiadis was never mentioned by the mainstream media, and was totally unknown.
(Lavrentiadis is obviously tied to PASOK since the socialists did everything in their power to bail it out several months ago)
The author says that Lavrentiadis channelled massive amounts of money to the Greek media. If this information is true, then it makes sense why the Greek media consistently slammed the government of Costas Karamanlis and elevated George Papandreou, or the socialists. (Let us not forget who brought the forced us into the embrace of the war-mongering IMF... Now you understand why they were attacking Karamanlis?)
It is only fair to conclude, thereafter that the CARLYLE Group has great interests in Greece. Why else would they use someone to make such investments? What is there main focus as a company? War, construction and you guessed it natural oil and gas. (Now is it starting to make sense Frappers?)
Quite incidentally Lavrentiadis investments on the Greek market were not limited to just the Greek media. He also held shares in the pharmaceutical company Alapis, (which is one of the two companies that imported the controversial vaccine for swine flu (H1N1).)
(And then they tell us not to believe in conspiracy theories... Really?)
So what can we benefit from this story?
Here is where it becomes even more clearer.
We here at HellasFrappe assume that these giant companies secretly began penetrating the Greek market in the 90s through the ruling PASOK party via Laliotis, for reasons which are all too obvious. After doing our own investigative work, we discovered that:
In 1996 it was rumored that the incident at Imia occurred because space satellites discovered one of the largest natural gas reservoirs ever found in this region. It is suspected that this reservoir begins at Imia and ends near Crete (and as we have seen, neither Greece nor Turkey dares to survey this area for its potential of hydrocarbons). Quite strangely wherever there is oil or natural gas, suddenly these two companies spring up.
In the same period Yugoslavia was being Balkanized by the Clinton-Soros regime and guess which companies were there before and after the chaos?
You guessed it... Same companies!
Through Lavrentiadis' funds, the silence of reporters was a given, and the propaganda and controversy that was spread about credible politicians back then -such as Costas Karamanlis- was obviously conducted for a reason (being to bring back the PASOK party, and business as usual).
Back then the Greek media terrorized citizens about the dangers of not taking the H1N1 vaccine (from the pharmaceutical company of which Lavrentiadis was coincidentally a shareholder of).
(Editor's Note: If you really get right down to it, it is almost like every stinking rock we pick up that screams out scandal, or controversy, the socialist PASOK party is always mentioned. Not even the Italian mafia is that good. If a small blog like Triklopodia did a little bit of googling and uncovered this type of information, imagine what could be revealed with a full scale investigation? If we really want to reverse things and put an end to wars and corporate greed -by companies such as these- then WE THE PEOPLE have TO WAKE UP and take the bull by the horns. We have to speak up. We have to spread awareness. If not a blog, then post a relevant story, google some information, get involved in your community, do anything. But do not stay silent! You are only helping those who want chaos and wars.)
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