Aki's man Sbokos testifies about blackmail attempts against him

Yiannis Sbokos, a former defence ministry general secretary under the now jailed Akis Tsochatzopoulos, testified before examining magistrates earlier this week on an attempted blackmail by inmates based in Greek prisons. It should be reminded that Sbokos, who is currently serving time on a conviction of money-laundering and illegal payments for the notorious faulty submarines purchased by Greece, claimed to have been blackmailed by a ring operating within the prison, in a case where his fellow-inmate Tsohatzopoulos is also implicated.

A report from the state news agency ANA-MPA said that Sbokos repeated his claims in the previous stages of the investigation concerning two bomb attacks on areas linked to members of his family. Among others, he has claimed that hard-timer Yiannis Skaftouros, the alleged leader of the ring, had demanded 10 million euros in January 2013 and threatened his family if he didn't pay.

He claimed that similar threats were later made by the inmate Panagiotis Vlastos, who had also advised him to "give some pocket money to Skaftouros in order to avoid an... accident".

On his part, Vlastos has denied any connection with the explosions or the attempted extortion against Sbokos.