Simitis says he regrets travesties (scandals) during the time he was PM

Former Prime Minister Costas Simitis, as well as the present leader of the controversial PASOK party, Evangelos Venizelos, on Wednesday began testifying in the appeals case, in relation to the bribes in scandalous armament deals, which was launched by former Minister of National Defense Akis Tsohatzopoulos.

When questioned, Simitis said that he was not aware of anything about the illegal actions of the defendants and what is attributed to them.

     "What I know comes from the newspapers and the courts” e said while he revealed that the KYSEA does not have any investigative powers, nor does it negotiate and discuss offset benefits.

He said that weapons cannot be purchased unless a proposal is made by the Ministry of National Defense.

When asked whether bribery was possible in the KYSEA’s proceedings, the former Greek PM said that "if it happened, it is possible” and explained that the prices of military supplies and armaments are not known and are determined case-by-case.

He also said that he regretted the "these travesties" took place under his premiership when his efforts were to upgrade and modernize the country.

Certainly the most controversial part of his testimony was when he referred to the issue of Imia and said that the reason the helicopter crashed -killing three Greek soldiers- was because it was in the air for too long. Simitis explained how the crisis with Turkey at the time over the Imia Islets highlighted the need to update the Hellenic Armed forces, in order to counter a possible escalation.

It should be reminded that both Simitis and Venizelos were summoned by the courts at the request of Tsochatzopoulos since they were part of the Government Council for National Defense (KYSEA) during the critical period when the defective submarines and TOR M1 purchases were made (the KYSEA is the body with the highest authority on such matters). Other veteran PASOK ministers who were part of the KYSEA at the time include Vaso Papandreou and Yannos Papantoniou, -who are also set to testify on May20th.-

A week later, in the 27th of May, three high-ranking military officers that were also part of the KYSEA – Athanasios Tzoganis, Manolis Paragioudakis and Giorgos Ioannidis – are due to take the stand.

According to the former National Defense Minister, the controversial arms deals involves strategic government choices that were made by this controversial KYSEA and as such it was not possible to make illegal payments for legal and approved supply contacts. The courts argue that the trial aims to investigate the alleged bribery charge and not the legal status of the supply contracts. After all, KYSEA members have previously stated that the council decides on contracts based on the recommendations from the military and political leadership of the Ministry of National Defense.

Here are the transcripts according to TOC magazine:

Simitis: You will be asking why we gave those funds and why the procurements were necessary. You will remember that before I won the confidence vote, we did not have the means to intervene in the Imia case and the helicopter crashed and those kids were killed because it was flying for more hours than it should have. So when I asked the head of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff if commandos could retake the Imia [islets] he said no because they would have to go via Thessaloniki and it would take 6 hours for them to get there. I have written about it in our book. The then leadership of the Armed Forces told me that the difference between us and Turkey was great at the level of engagement and that we should have the ability, in the event of a clash to hold them until the allies could intervene. KYSEA therefore took the decision and we bought 60 F16s, 15 Mirages, 4 submarines, helicopters etc. At a diplomatic level the Helsinki decision was taken.

Judge: Let’s go to the decisions
‘Akis protested when I reduced the defense budget’

Simitis: That [Helsinki] decision was important because if it wanted to intervene as in Imia, Turkey would have to go to the International court beforehand. That meant that we didn’t need so many arms. So I called the governing committee and on the recommendation of the then Finance Minister, I recommended that new arms purchases be suspended and the budget be reduced by 1 trillion drachmas. Mr Tsochatzopoulos disagreed as he believed that improving the country’s defenses was important and [argued] that the arms programs did not exceed 5% of GDP and was only at 4%. I decided to the contrary and there were major protests from Mr Tsochatzopoulos and the press who wrote, “Arms or butter?” New Democracy also agreed with the press. Eventually KYSEA met and reduced the arms programs by 35 billion euros. That is, the arms procurement programs happened under the pressure of the Imia crisis and were reduced when the element of necessary defense improvements was no longer present.

Judge: Yes but that didn’t concern the previous contracts for the submarines and TOR M1s.

Simitis: Those were necessary due to Imia and were right to be purchased, so the assertion that they were not needed is false.

Judge: Does KYSEA (the Government Council of Foreign Affairs and Defense) have an advisory role?

Simitis: No. It has an executive role. It didn’t decide over everything. The law governing KYSEA says that it makes political decisions but not about the purchases. For example it would answer the political question: do we have the ability to purchase [arms] from France or the USA? That’s what it decides.

Simitis: KYSEA would receive the decisions of the committees, of the defense minister etc. KYSEA cannot purchase something that has not been recommended by the ministry. It either accepts what is said by the ministry or not. But it did not and cannot have an opinion on technical details, only general principles. For example the prime ministerial airplane was chosen between the Falcon which could go to China and the Embraer which was enough for Brussels which is what concerned us.

The KYSEA had a strategic role. Just think that in 8 years it met 44 times – i.e. relatively few, while the cabinet met 204 times.

Judge: Did you not audit the files? Could the minister change the supplier of the weapons?

Simitis: No but he could bring the case back to KYSEA and say that ‘I think this system is more useful’.

Could the Minister have been bribed?

Judge: Could the minister have been bribed?

Simitis: Since it happened, could it have happened?

Pagoropoulos (Tsochatzopoulos’s lawyer): That hasn’t been proven, that is what we are looking at

Simitis: It is worth asking, given there was so much background work, how [the bribery] could ultimately happen. But here you are not coming to buy an Opel car. It is auditable only by the Defense Committees. But here it appears (I won’t say that it has been proven and annoy the counsel), that there were payments at three levels: deputy director, general secretary and minister at the highest level, so given that they had colluded anything is possible.

Pagoropoulos: That hasn’t been established sir, that is what we are examining

Simitis: I learnt that two of the accused had confessed.

Judge: Don’t take anything as a given

Simitis: Indeed. Was it accepted that there were illegal payments? In 2001, 2, 3? No it was not accepted. It became accepted much later after trials abroad of companies and their employees.

Judge: We are looking to determine if that is true.

Simitis: It is true about the foreign trials.

Judge: How could there have been bribes when all of this was overseen by the KYSEA (the Government Council of Foreign Affairs and Defense)?

Simitis: I told you it did not examine prices. That is all done by the committees. A file comes with the recommendation of the Head of Arms and of course the ministers. So there is room for bribery before and afterwards.

Judge: Do you know if Mr Tsochatzopoulos was bribed?

Simitis: I don’t know, I told you, I don’t know anything…

Judge: Whichever witness is tired may sit.

Simitis: I am not tired
Akis’s recommendations were decisive

Prosecutor: Were Tsochatzopoulos’s recommendations of major importance?

Simitis: Of course, he was the Defense Minister

Prosecutor: Did his recommendations [carry more weight]?

Simitis: The weight of the recommendation depends on the reputation of the individual. KYSEA met 44 times. Long discussions were had about the submarines and repeatedly. The German submarines were decided on following the recommendation of the head of the navy. There was no one advising ‘these are faulty’ don’t buy them. I recall that for both issues we met more than once.
‘I trusted Akis’

(The former PM recalled that at the height of his power Akis Tsochatzopoulos was one of the most influential officials in PASOK and on the political scene in general, noting that he had even served as acting prime minister. As such he was trusted by Simitis.)

Simitis: I had faith in the system of the Defense Ministry. In any case the Defense Minister wasn’t just anyone, he had served as acting prime minister when Andreas Papandreou was ill. From ’76 he was PASOK’s secretary and for 20 plus years the number two person of PASOK.

TOR missiles and submarines

Simitis: For the TOR M: :With the TOM – M1 the only issue that was raised was their functionality, if they were compatible with other weapons as the Greek army did not purchase Russian weapons but it was decided that we should by Russian weapons for political reasons. The TORs were purchased for the army. If the recommendation was that the weapon wasn’t a good one, we wouldn’t have bought it. There were some weapons the Soviets had which others did not have.:

On the Submarines
“It is now 2015 and you can’t expect from me to remember the discussion we had in 1999 and 2001 in relation to the submarines or whatever other weapon system. The only goal of the government was for there to be co-production as the Saramanga shipyards were not operating and were making losses. KYSEA decided that it would be beneficial for there to be co-production.”

Editor's Note: Simitis of course forgets that during that period his rival, former leader of the New Democracy party Costas Karamanlis, continually slammed him for the corruption that was occurring during his time of rule, but all Simitis did -at the time- was challenge Karamanlis to take these cases to court. Karamanlis did, and almost 15 years later, the Greek court system is still battling to uncover the truth in these cases. Why? Think about it. The PASOK system, which some describe as being better than that of the Cosa Nostra,  involved people from all walks of life in Greece. That is why the corruption continued for decades because it involved the neighbourhood baker, up to officials in the government. In simple terms, when you suddenly go from rags to riches like most people did who supported this party oer the past 30 years, it is very difficult to break that line of corruption. Karamanlis tried during his rule, but was overrun by all those who once hailed Costas Simitis. Sadly the methods that were used by this group which is still alive and kicking (media, finances, large corporations) is again being repeated by the SYRIZA party (or the old PASOK) which is presently appointing its members to high-ranking posts across the public sector. HellasFrappe highly doubts that we will ever have the pleasure of seeing authorities drag these characters off behind bars because the mechanism that supports this type of corruption would collapse.

Will Simitis & Venizelos testify in Tsochatzopoulos case on April 29th?

The Greek Court of Appeal for Felonies on Wednesday summoned  the seven-member Government Council of National Defense (KYSEA) -active between 1998 and 1999- to testify after Easter in the scandalous case of the armaments procurement programmes. As such, former Prime Minister Costas Simitis, PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos, and former ministers Yannos Papantoniou and Vasso Papandreou are all expected to testify (as is George Papandreou). Military officers Athanasios Tzoganis, Manolis Paragioudakis and Giorgos Ioannidis are also expected to testify on April 29th as well.

The subpoena to former members of KYSEA was a standing request of the main accused Akis Tsochatzopoulos since the beginning of the judicial investigation, who argues that the decision on the disputed contracts for submarines and the TOR M1 was a government decision and was not taken by himself but by KYSEA.

Meanwhile, the court rejected the applications for suspension of execution of sentence that would release Tsochatzopoulos' wife Vicky Stamati and his accountant Frosso Lambropoulou.

In order to gain a better understanding of this case, we propose that you also read:

Akis Tsochatzopoulos implicated in ruthless prison-based extortion ring
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2015/01/akis-tsochatzopoulos-implicated-in.html

Attorneys of Tsochatzopoulos Want Costas Simitis To Testify!
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/05/attorneys-of-tsochatzopoulos-want.html

Tsochatzopoulos: The Sausage Maker's Son Who Became a Millionaire
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2012/04/tsochatzopoulos-sausage-makers-son-who.html

BUSTED - Tsochatzopoulos' Cousin & Friend Pins Him To The Wall
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/07/busted-tsochatzopoulos-cousin-friend.html

Tsochatzopoulos indicted on submarine procurement deal
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2011/07/tsochatzopoulos-indicted-on-submarine.html

SPECIAL REPORT - Zigras "Gives" Tsochatzopoulos & Reveals How PASOK "Fixed" 2000 Elections (VIDEOS)
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2012/07/special-report-zigras-gives.html

SCANDAL: Katrougalos signed contracts to rehire sacked public state workers! (VIDEOS)

The government said on Sunday that a report in the Sunday edition of the To Vima newspaper about Alternate Minister for Administrative Reform George Katrougalos was published with the aim of undermining the SYRIZA-ANEL government as well as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ahead of his visit to Berlin on Monday. Katrougalos appears to be implicated in a scandal involving private contracts he signed with dismissed and suspended civil servants.

According to the article, Katrougalos worked as a lawyer for a private firm before being elected in the last national elections. During this period, and according to the report, he signed quite a few private agreements with public servants who had either been laid off or suspended by the previous conservative government. The report reveals that these agreements stipulated that he would receive a 12 percent commission of the gross amount which would be awarded to them by courts if they won the case if they got their jobs back.

(Kind of scandalous, and ironic, since today -and from his ministerial post- he is responsible for rehiring them! After all he would absorb 12 percent from their compensation – which might amount to three years’ wages – as commission for reappointing them.).

The scandal - The evidence so far

The article in To Vima alleges that Katrougalos signed private contracts with hundreds of civil servants, who were made redundant, and took 12 percent from their compensation – which might amount to three years’ wages – as commission for reappointing them.

The law provides 25 percent of the salary as compensation for every civil servant who is laid off and then reappointed, for the whole period of redundancy. The report in To Vima stresses that Katrougalos has made such contracts with at least 300 laid off government employees. The contracts have a clause whereby 12 percent of this compensation, when received, goes to Katrougalos as attorney fees.

Most importantly, and certainly something that is raising eyebrows, the same article in To Vima also notes that these private contracts were signed after Katrougalos became Alternate minister in charge of administrative reform; hence of employees who were made redundant or are in a standby mode.

Another point that certainly needs clarification, and which was revealed by "To Vima" is that contracts were lodged with tax and attorney offices on January 26th and 27th, 2015 (that is right after SYRIZA won the national elections.)

According to the Greek newspaper on these two dates, scores of private contracts were submitted to tax offices and the Bar by public sector employees who were either laid off or put in a standby mode. This was done to officially certify the contracts, whereby Katrougalos and his law firm were hired to protect the interests of these employees.

Through the contract, a public sector employee authorises the law firm to make a claim against the state. If this claim is satisfied, then the employee can receive the margin between his/her former public sector remuneration and his/her income after the employee was laid off. Moreover, the employee can also cover the cost of litigation. An upfront amount of 200 Euros is also paid.

When confronted with the case on MEGA Tv on Sunday morning, Katrougalos strongly denied any wrong doing, and said that he resigned from the legal firm he worked for after he was elected as MEP and since then has not taken up any similar case, nor has he drafted any similar agreements. When asked to explain the fees, the Minister said that the legal fees were only paid when the trial took place in civil courts and other lawyers were involved, which would only be paid if the ruling was favourable.

Katrougalos described the allegations as slanderous and provocative at a press conference that was specifically held to respond to the allegations.

     "Had I signed the contracts, I should have left the country and committed suicide rather than just hand in my resignation." Katrougalos also said he would demand 10,000 Euros as compensation from To Vima.
     “My political and legal activity always had the same aim, to defend rights and the Constitution. In the past five years, I handled many cases related to the memorandum, most of them with little or no legal fees: port privatizations, the PSI robbery, the illegal appointment of the administration in privatization agency HRADF, the civil mobilization of employees in the metro and many others, among which the civil servants who were suspended,” Katrougalos said.

Myths and Truths That Need Clarification

It is true that when Katrougalos was appointed as Minister, he automatically debarred as a lawyer and even shut down his law firm on February 27th, nonetheless the article in the To Vima newspaper says that he took the pains to warrant his rights so that he could return to his law practice following his run as Minister.

This is not just here say. To Vima notes that the last clause of the private contracts provides that if the Ap. Papakonstantinou - G. Katrougalos - N. Hlepas & Associates Law Firm and Partners shuts down, the powers stemming from those contracts transfer to G. Katrougalos.

Concerning a contract signed on January 27th (and which was published by the paper), Katrougalos quickly replied that it does not refer to a reappointment, but instead arranges a small margin fee. Also, he said that it was signed by his partner rather than by himself. When asked why he signed a contract implying a claim against the Greek state in a period when he already held a position in the government, Katrougalos scandalously replied that it was just a minor case, which had been dealt with by his associate before he himself had even realised that he would be a government minister. He then added that even if he had known about it, he would have still authorised the contracts.

Government stands behind Katrougalos

Press reports say that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has already spoken with Katrougalos and asked him for explanations and the minister maintained that the claims revealed by To Vima were false. Katrougalos must of convinced the PM because several reports in the Greek press noted that his resignation is not even being considered. As such, it issued a statement, noting its support for Katrougalos and urged the opposition to withdraw their declarations against him.

Greek opposition calls for his resignation

As expected, the most opposition parties began demanding his immediate resignation. The press secretary of the main opposition New Democracy party,Costas Karagounis, said that if the story is credible then Katrougalos must immediately resign.

     "At the end of the day, ‘hope’ has proven to be a business transaction with a 12 percent price tag. Although underwritten by the taxpayer, the minister is the one who will cash in on it. Instead of appointing young and capable people, we will reappoint our own guys with compensations. Now everybody knows what the implications are of the radical left running the country for the first time."

Similar protests were expressed by the "Potami" party as well as by PASOK.

German press slams SYRIZA for protecting Katrougalos

The online edition of German newspaper Bild rushed to comment on the Greek affairs in an article titled “A corruption scandal in Tsipras’ incorruptible government.” Dripping with sarcasm, the article reports all the details of the case and states that the new developments are likely to keep Alexis Tsipras’s government very busy in the following days.

Sources: MEGA Tv, ANT1 tv, YouTube, To Vima, ANA-MPA, Bild

Papakonstantinou to take stand on Thursday in Lagarde case

Former Finance Minister George Papakonstantinou is scheduled to take the stand on Thursday at 15:00 at the Special Court, where he will be called to answer questions regarding his handling of the Lagarde list scandal case. Papakonstantinou, who has rejected the charges that were brought against him, is charged of tampering with a public document and attempted breach of trust. He is also charged with violating a law related to fraud against the state.

So far a total of 16 people have testified in this trial which began on February 25, including three former SDOE chiefs, former associates of Papakonstantinou as well as PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos, and other officials.

It should be reminded that the Lagarde scandal involves Greek large-scale depositors in a Swiss branch of HSBC who are suspected of tax evasion.

Most of the trial's time was taken up by the testimony of a Hellenic Police department of criminal research Apostolos Deltsidis, testifying on the technical aspects of how the archives on a CD, transferred to a USB stick, could be opened and how the users of the files could be traced electronically. The files were projected onto a screen earlier this week and it was discovered that in one copy's case the names of Papakonstantinou's relatives were missing while in another copy, from a second original requested after the first was lost, there were two names related to him.

64 to stand trial over Siemens bribery case

Based on an indictment issued by the Appeals Justices' Council, not one, not two by a total of 64 defendants are expected to stand trial on charges of bribery in exchange for a multi-million contract given to the German Siemens company to digitise Greek phone company systems. The defendants include former executives of both Siemens and the then largely state-owned Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE), among them 17 German nationals.

The appeals justices accepted the proposal made by the Financial Crime Deputy Prosecutor Galinos Bris that the 64 should stand trial on various charges involving bribery and money laundering, in many cases aggravated by laws for the embezzlement of public funds, which can carry a maximum term of life imprisonment.

The indictment marks the culmination of a nine-year investigation by justice into the Siemens case and the company's contract OTE, including the so-called "useful expenses" paid out by Siemens.

Bris delivered a 2,368-page report into a 1997 multi-million agreement, known as the "8002 contract". The "8002 contract" is considered to be the biggest case of corruption involving large amounts of money over a long period of time. The investigation into the case was started in 2006 by the then prosecutor for financial crimes Panagiotis Athanassiou.

According to the report, the estimated 70 million euros in "n?tzliche Aufwendungen" or "useful expenses" - as the multinational company's officials referred to kickbacks - are considered a loss for the state, as the kickbacks were then rolled into the cost of implementing the project. The report specifically accused former OTE executives of not protecting the interests of the company and, in addition, of not acting based on the real needs of the company, which was a largely state-owned company at that time.

Of the 64 indicted, 19 face charges of active bribery aggravated by the provisions of the law for public-sector embezzlement, which is punishable by life imprisonment, as well as money laundering.

A further 14 defendants and former OTE executives are charged with passive bribery, also aggravated by the provisions of the law for public-sector embezzlement, and money-laundering.

Eight consultancy firm employees face charges as accessories in passive bribery, 14 are accused as direct accomplices in passive bribery and money-laundering, eight are accused as direct accomplices in active bribery and money laundering, and one woman is accused of money laundering.

Among the defendants is Thodoros Tsoukatos, an erstwhile advisor of former prime minister Costas Simitis, and senior Siemens executives Ilias Georgiou and Prodromos Mavridis, as well as two fugitive former Siemens executives with outstanding arrest warrants, Michalis Christoforakos, who has taken refuge in Germany, and Christos Karavellas.

Based on the Appeals Justices Council ruling, the charges against another 80 accused have been dropped, including Karavellas' family, who had been arrested when he fled the country.

ANA-MPA

Gov't recalls controversial order to release all illegal migrants, asks for resignations

Note: HellasFrappe will following this story all day because it is still developing, please log in later on for the latest updates

Update 1:

Three former Ministers for the Protection of the Citizen literally slammed Panousis later on Wednesday by revealing that an officer cannot issue an order unless he receives a green light from the commanding Minister (in this case Panousis).

Speaking on Skai Tv Nikos Dendias said: Noone can issue an order (or circular) without the consent of the minister, "even verbally."

Kikilias: The order was issued from Panousis' office, why is he complaining?

Voulgarakis: "It is impossible to issue an executive order, on his own," leaving it to be understood that Panousis was well aware of the order.

Original Story

Alternate Civil Protection minister Yiannis Panousis vehemently denied he had any involvement in a controversial document issued by his ministry on Tuesday night which ordered authorities to resit from arresting immigrants who enter Greece illegally but rather simply record them, claiming that he is going to ask for the resignations of those who were involved in its release.

The issue, which became widely known by SKAI Tv on Tuesday night, concerns an alleged order by Panoussis not to arrest undocumented migrants crossing into Greece but rather provide them with temporary residence papers for up to six months. The issue came to light after the Border Guards union blasted the decision and spoke of "hordes of migrants" entering Greece unchecked and contributing to criminality. The same order would also allow the release of all detainees in detention centres on Wednesday, unless they were charged with crimes and misdemeanors.

The document, which was signed by the Brigadier General Georgios Nitsas, provoked immediate condemnation by opposition parties who swiftly accused SYRIZA of being excessively soft on immigration and generated criticism throughout the social networks. The ND leader and former PM, Antonis Samaras accused the government of turning Greece into a ‘magnet for illegal immigrants’ saying that the new policy would have catastrophic consequences for tourism, public safety and Greece’s relationship with Europe. Samaras said it is "unbelievable, unthinkable and provocative".

After denying that he issued the order, and pointing out the document only bears the signature of a brigadier, Panousis said that he would recall the order.

     "I have recalled the order. I had absolutely no knowledge [of the order] and neither did any political figures," Panousis told journalists at an extraordinary press conference on Wednesday morning.

He said when he heard the report in the media he was also left in awe.

     "A brigadier cannot take such decisions," he added, saying the fact that the story was presented by the media without double-checking with his ministry for validity created a "jungle of misinformation".

The Minister said he spoke with the head of the Hellenic police who said he “was also angry” about the order and has asked for the resignations of all the officers involved.

After being pressured by reporters, he finally admitted that the document was made up of an amalgam of scattered directives already in affect but clarified that they were gathered out of context.

     “This does not create a policy,” he said. “The various reference to scattered articles already in effect. This on its own doesn’t create a policy because policies concern priorities, hierarchies and the way in which laws are put into affect.” In his opinion, it has a political base it is not a government policy.

According to him, the controversial document was never brought before him to be formalized and slammed the media for trying to pass it off as a new policy unknown to himself.

While speaking to SKAI Tv on Wednesday morning, government spokesman Gavriil Sakellaridis also defended Panousis statements claiming that the document was released by the initiative of a department official without the knowledge of the minister.

     "The country’s immigration policy can only be decided by the competent ministers," Sakellaridis said.

The order was also denied by Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis who was quoted as saying that responsibility for this issue lies with the person who signed the order and not with the relevant ministry.

Refernece: Skai Tv, enikos

NEW SCANDAL - Defence Ministry to probe purchase Of NH90 helicopters & submarines

Following a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Defense Minister Panos Kammenos said on Tuesday that the armed forces’ internal affairs department discovered evidence of wrongdoing in two military procurement cases and is now planning to send this evidence to the judiciary.

     “We agreed with the prime minister that even though these cases are in the first stages of investigation... they should go immediately to the Greek justice system so they can be added to the case files already under examination,” Kammenos told reporters.

He revealed that the cases involve the purchase of NH90 helicopters in 2003 and the deal to purchase four Type 214 diesel-electric submarines, which date back to 1998.

Papakonstantinou Finally Faces Special Court - Time For Justice

Former Minister of Finance George Papakonstantinou (under the George Papandreou government) finally took the stand in the Special Court on Wednesday, where he is now expected to address the charges that have been brought against him in relation to the controversial Lagarde list. In his opening statement the former minister denied the charges and said that he is innocent.

Papakonstantinou is charged with tampering with an official State document as well as an attempted breach of faith. It should be reminded that Papakonstantinou was charged with tampering with the Lagarde list, which contains the names of more than 2,000 Greeks -and suspected tax evaders- with cash deposits at a Geneva branch of HSBC in an effort to remove the names of three of his relatives.

Reports claim that the Court might focus on the criminal liabilities of Papakonstantinou, rather than the general social, financial or political landscape.

Papakonstantinou was referred to the Special Court by the Supreme Court’s Judicial Council.

The 'Lagarde list' is an electronic file that was sent to the Greek finance ministry by French authorities several years ago, containing the names of wealthy Greeks with sizable deposits in the Geneva-based branch of HSBC. It was received when Papakonstantinou was finance minister, under the (very controversial) George Papandreou government.

We suggest that you also read:

Falciani: Sarkozy "Blackmailed" Papandreou To Accept The Troika Because His Mother's Name is on Lagarde List
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2015/02/falciani-sarkozy-blackmailed-papandreou.html

Ta Nea Report Claims 86 entries missing from “Lagarde List”
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2015/02/ta-nea-report-claims-86-entries-missing.html

Supreme Court’s Judicial Council Refers Papakonstantinou to Special Court
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2014/12/supreme-courts-judicial-council-refers.html

Papandreou Offended For Being Included In Lagarde Scandal Probe
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/01/papandreou-offended-for-being-included.html

Dedicated the s.c.u.m. that took power in October 2009. One by one you will all fall down!

Arrest Warrent Against Head of KYP... In Assassination Attempt Against Karamanlis

The investigating magistrate who has been investigating the assassination attempt as well as illegal wiretapping against former prime minister Costas Karamanlis on Monday issued a series of arrest warrents against one American and two Greek nationals in connection to both cases. According to press reports, the suspects are connected with the wiretapping that was conducted against Karamanlis and several members of his government, as well as with the controversial "Pythia" plan which aimed at destabilizing the country. It should be reminded that the Pythia plan's main priority -as presented in previous HellasFrappe reports- was the toppling of the Karamanlis government, so that an end can be placed to the contracts that he had signed with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the construction of the South Stream energy pipeline.

As you all know, HellasFrappe has been following the story closely over the last few years, but we were flabbergasted on Tuesday when we read on Kontranews that three arrest warrants were issued and not one. We were also shocked to learn that one of the Greek nationals is closely associated with former premier George Papandreou and what is worse, headed the Greek intelligence unit.

We have always suspected Papandreou's involvement in this case, and especially in Karamanlis' downfall, but questioning one's actions is one thing, and being able to actually link him to the case is another. This is something that only a judicial official can do and luckily Mr. Foukas is. He has concluded that the wiretapping, the Pythia plan and the assassination attempt are all interconnected.

(Links will be provided at the bottom for Pythia plan, as well as the assassination attempt.)

As noted before three warrants were issued. Kontra news claims that one of the Greek nationals is going to be charged for espionage, because he reportedly supplied American officials with top secret information. The newspaper revealed that he is a senior member of the Foreign Ministry who is now working for an international organization.

The second suspect, according to the same report, is the former head of the Greek Intelligence Service (KYP) and a close friend and ally to former premier George Papandreou.

The third suspect was featured in a previous article by HellasFrappe on Monday. A warrant was issued against William B., a former US Embassy official (and intelligence officer) who according to reports, is the mastermind and primary suspect behind the wiretapping scandal against Karamanlis as well as several members of his government. This is the first time the Greek justice system dares to issue an arrest warrant against an American agent.

According to enikos, the 65 year-old former embassy worker purchased the controversial phones from the area of Piraeus. During the period when the wiretapping was being conducted, he would consistently travel to the US, or until March 2005.

The same report points out that William B.'s lawyer had contacted Foukas and had informed him that his client was willing to come to Greece and cooperate with authorities on the investigation, but he never did.

As a result, Foukas pushed the investigation forward and discovered an antenna in the southern suburbs of Athens which was used by the perpetrator (s) to secretly listen in on the conversations of the former prime minister. The same report also notes that the location that was used for the wiretapping, also served as the headquarters of this network. Quite coincidentally, a second antenna was used at the very same location sometime in the past for the same purposes (against an unknown victim/victims).

When the scandal was brought to light during Karamanlis' rule, the American agent was allegedly removed from Greece for a short while but he apparently returned in August 2005 under a diplomatic identity, as the first secretary at the US embassy.

A report from AMNA said that based on available evidence, the defendant cooperated with the Greek authorities mainly on counter-terrorism issues and participated in an operation code-named "web” which involved the removal of a large quantity of explosives from the Iraqi embassy in 2003. The same man appears to have served in the US intelligence service since 1990 when he was transferred to Athens.

Foukas is now investigating whether the American official has/had any involvement in the assassination attempt/plot targeting Karamanlis.

In a previous report on HellasFrappe we had featured a controversial article from Epikaira where it was revealed how Foukas was working on the case. As noted, all three cases (2008 December riots, Wire-Tapping Scandal, and Pythia Plan) were merged into one massive investigation. The integration and correlation of files, on the one hand documented the motives and deceit committed in all three cases, and on the other intended to present dramatic evidence as to the "why" or the background of all three cases.

More Specifically:

1. The names of foreign intelligence agents involved in these cases will be revealed.
2. A document will be presented which proves that George Papandreou was well aware about the "postponement or total dismissal" of various policies that dealt with several Greek pipeline agreements (especially those signed between Greece and Russia).
3. Information will be presented about mysterious Cypriot deposits that in return reveal other startling evidence.
4. Evidence will prove that Costas Karamanlis was instructed in February 2009 to avoid any movement in Athens (in other words was warned to take urgent security measures), and this resulted in confining him only at the Maximos Mansion and his home in Rafina (giving the opposition and the media a reason to criticism him for not being active enough and/or appearing "worn out").
5. Evidence will also be presented which proves that specific "journalists" were collaborating with foreign centers (against the government at the time as well as Greece). For instance, when Wikileaks published a cable outlining that foreign powers had baptized Karamanlis "Buddha", there were (idiotic and well bribed) reporters who used this characterization against Karamanlis, thus creating strange connotations. (Yes, all those who used this characterization, were indeed that stupid).
6. Evidence is also to be presented which shows that foreign embassies operating in Athens were convinced that Karamanlis would fall in 2008 -or after the 'accidental' fires in the Peloponnese-. (Tip: If you can put two and two together, then try and remember which politicians said they wanted the tanks on the streets in December, and you will hit the jackpot!)
7. Evidence will also be presented about a bomb that was discovered at a shipowners dinner gala but which was luckily removed before being detonated!
8. New shocking testimony will also be heard from the former head of the Greek Intelligence Agency Mr.Korantis (who later became an MP with the LAOS party).
9. And much, much, more.

What is the Pythia Plan:

The Pythia plan had four main points: The assassination plot against Karamanlis had as its objective to postpone and/or cancel his government’s decision to move ahead with an energy policy that would make Greece a fair player in the global energy market, while it was part of a larger plan that was set to totally destabilize the country’s economic and political system.

First Phase:  Political instability. During Karamanlis' run as Prime Minister, the political climate in Greece began to crumble and the mainstream media (which some hint was bought out to do so) suddenly began broadcasting stories suggesting that the government of Karamanlis was accepting kickbacks or was involved in money laundering in the Monastery of Vatopedi case. The news began to tarnish the image of Karamanlis’ Cabinet, while the aim was to strike at the core… Karamanlis himself so that he could lose his credibility with the people. It worked. After months and months of propaganda, the people turned their back on Karamanlis, his political career was totally tarnished, and he lost the elections to George Papandreou in October 2009.

Second Phase: Economic unrest: This was achieved with various methods that even included the various kidnappings of several prominent businessmen, throwing the business community in a panic.

Third Phase: Social instability. This was implemented with various forms of social unrest, including terrorist acts.

Fourth Phase: Weaken Foreign Policy. Karamanlis’ foreign policy began to suddenly show signs of weakening and Greece began to suddenly lose ground with its allies.

If you want to learn the background to this story then please read:

PASOK MP Implicated In Karamanlis Wire-Tapping Case - Breached State Secrets
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/11/pasok-mp-implicated-in-karamanlis-wire.html

RealNews Report Says Greek-Americans & NSA Behind Spy Network Against Costas Karamanlis
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/11/realnews-report-says-greek-americans.html

SPECIAL REPORT - Supreme Court To Merge Cases Of Wire-Tapping, Pythia Plan,Assassination Plot Against Karamanlis Into ONE
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/02/special-report-supreme-court-to-merge.html

Case on Suspicious Death of Vodafone Employee Associated to Greek Wire-tapping Scandal Re-opens
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2012/04/case-on-suspicious-death-of-vodafone.html

PART l - Plot to assassinate Costas Karamanlis revealed (VIDEO)
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/06/plot-to-assassinate-kostas-karamanlis.html

PART II – Plot to assassinate Costas Karamanlis revealed (VIDEO)
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/06/part-ii-plot-to-assassinate-kostas.html

PART III - Authorities launch formal investigation into assassination plot against Karamanlis
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/08/authorities-launch-formal-investigation.html

SPECIAL REPORT - Prosecution Wraps Up Investigation Into Assassination Attempt Of Karamanlis
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2012/03/special-report-prosecution-wraps-up.html

SPECIAL REPORT - Either You Leave, Or We Kill You - (Karamanlis) A Hostage For 242 Days
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/12/special-report-either-you-leave-or-we.html

Makeleio Show Explores Papandreou and SYRIZA Role In Downfall of Karamanlis (VIDEO)
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2012/12/makeleio-show-explores-papandreou-and.html

Was Mossad, MI6 & CIA Behind Assassination Plot Of Karamanlis?
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2012/03/was-mossad-mi6-cia-behind-assassination.html

Ambassador Threatens Greek MP Over Energy Policy - Connected To Karamanlis Assassination Plot
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2013/01/ambassador-threatens-greek-mp-over.html

Does Papandreou agree with Rondos’ views about sharing the Aegean with Turkey?
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/10/does-papandreou-agree-with-rondos-views.html

Epikaira article confirms that Papandreou was in secret talks with US + Israel over natural gas + oil
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/08/epikaira-article-confirms-that.html

SPECIAL REPORT - Classified documents reveal US energy coup & Papandreou's retreat on FYROM
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/10/special-report-classified-documents.html

SPECIAL REPORT - Does Papandreou work on behalf of Greek or US interests? (VIDEOS)
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/10/special-report-does-papandreou-work-on.html
References: HellasFrappe, AMNA, enikos, www.kontranews.gr

Arrest warrant issued in wiretapping scandal against Karamanlis

An arrest warrant was issued on Monday against William B., a former American official of the US Embassy in Athens which, according to a report on enikos, is the prime suspect in the wiretapping scandal against former Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis as well as several members of his government. The warrant was issued by Supreme Court examining magistrate Dimitris Foukas who is also handling the case.

It appears that the 65 year-old former embassy worker purchased the scandalous phones from Piraeus and would consistently travel to the US during the period when the wiretappings were being held, or until March 2005.

The report on enikos pointed out that last summer the embassy worker's lawyer had contacted Mr. Foukas in order to inform him that his client was going to come to Greece and cooperate with the investigation (as well as possibly give useful information), but William B. never did.

Since then, the investigation focused on gathering as much information as it could and as such discovered an antenna in the southern suburbs of Athens which was used by the perpetrator (s) to secretly listen in on the conversations of the former prime minister. The report points out that the location was used as the headquarters for the wiretappings.

Apparently a second antenna was used at the very same location sometime in the past for the same purposes of gathering information.

Quite interestingly, after the eavesdropping case was brought to light, the suspect was allegedly removed from Greece for a short while and returned in August 2005 under a diplomatic identity, as the first secretary at the US embassy.

Based on available evidence, the defendant cooperated with the Greek authorities mainly on counter-terrorism issues and participated in an operation code-named "web” which involved the removal of a large quantity of explosives from the Iraqi embassy in 2003.

The same man appears to have served in his country's intelligence service since 1990 when he was transferred to Athens.

The same investigation will also decide whether the suspect had any involvement in the assassination plot targeting former prime minister Costas Karamanlis.

Articles in Greek by Anna Kandyli, enikos.gr via dexiextrem, ANA-MPA

If you want to learn the background to this story then please read:

PASOK MP Implicated In Karamanlis Wire-Tapping Case - Breached State Secrets
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/11/pasok-mp-implicated-in-karamanlis-wire.html

RealNews Report Says Greek-Americans & NSA Behind Spy Network Against Costas Karamanlis
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/11/realnews-report-says-greek-americans.html

Prosecutor orders investigation into wiretapping allegations
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2015/01/prosecutor-orders-investigation-into.html

SPECIAL REPORT - Supreme Court To Merge Cases Of Wire-Tapping, Pythia Plan, Assassination Plot Against Karamanlis Into ONE
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/02/special-report-supreme-court-to-merge.html

Case on Suspicious Death of Vodafone Employee Associated to Greek Wire-tapping Scandal Re-opens
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2012/04/case-on-suspicious-death-of-vodafone.html

Greek Watergate Scandal- US Embassy behind phone-tapping of Karamanlis
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2011/08/greek-watergate-scandal-us-embassy.html

BREAKING - Prosecutors Point To Specific Direction In Karamanlis Assassination Attempt
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/04/breaking-prosecutors-point-to-specific.html

Kassidiaris Will Testify on Baltakos Case On March 5th

After receiving an extension to prepare for his deposition, Golden Dawn MP Elias Kassidiaris is going to testify on the Baltakos case on March 5th. Earlier this week the former GD spokesman, who is presently detained at the Korydallos prison, said that he told the people the truth and is now "paying the cost", because "instead of examining Baltakos’ accusations, they are sending me to testify, and to prison”.

It should be reminded that Kassidiaris is facing felony charges after secretly videotaping a conversation he had with Takis Baltakos in November 2013. At the time, Baltakos was the former coalition government’s general secretary. In the leaked tapes between the two men, Baltakos appeared overtly critical of the ongoing investigation against the Golden Dawn party's activities.

When the controversial video was publicized on YouTube, Baltakos was forced to resign from his post.

In his testimonial last week, Baltakos said that he was not aware that he was being videotaped during the conversation.

To learn the background to this story, please click HERE  

All defendants in armaments bribing scandal found guilty

All the defendants that were on trial in a bribing case for the Russian TOR-M1 anti-missile systems were pronounced guilty by a Greek Felony Court on Wednesday. The five defendants (including former Cypriot Interior Minister Dinos Michailidis, his son Michalis Michailidis, former legal State adviser Anastasios Sofos, along with his wife Maria, and arms dealer Fouad al-Zayat) were found guilty on acts of corruption and money laundering.

As such, Dinos Michailidis received a sentence of 15 years for money laundering, Michalis Michailidis 15 years for money laundering, Anastasios Sofos was sentenced to life for passive bribery as well as 12 years for money laundering, Maria Sofos, on the other, was sentenced for 12 years for money laundering and Fouad al-Zayat was sentenced to life for active bribery as well as 17 years for money laundering.

According to the charge sheet, the actions of the defendants had facilitated payments by a Syrian-born businessman to Akis Tsochatzopoulos. It should be reminded that Tsochatzopoulos is a founding member of the socialist PASOK party and served as defense minister under the Costas Simitis government between 1996-2001.

The court papers said that The payments were apparently linked to a contract agreed by Tsochatzopoulos during his run in office to supply Greece with Russian made anti-aircraft missiles. All four had denied the charges and their lawyers said they would appeal.

It should also be reminded that Tsochatzopoulos was found guilty and jailed in 2013 for tax fraud and taking kickbacks for various arms deals. During the time of his trial details of lavish spending helped make the corruption case a symbol of the injustice felt by many Greeks who have over the past few years seen their pensions and wages cut on account of the economic crisis.

Michaelides, on the other, served as interior minister to two Cypriot governments. He was extradited to Greece in 2013.

(Referenes: kathimerini, Reuters, HellasFrappe, enikos, to Vima)

Falciani: Sarkozy "Blackmailed" Papandreou To Accept The Troika Because His Mother's Name is on Lagarde List

In his upcoming book, Herve Falciani, a former bank analyst from HSBC, and whistleblower, who grabbed the world's attention by exposing the controversial "Lagarde List", claims that George Papandreou was forced to bring the troika to Greece, because his mother Margarita Papandreou allegedly has a secret HSBC account with more than 500 million euros.

It should be noted that the French-Italian former bank officer is currently wanted by Swiss authorities after he extracted a list of 106,000 of HSBC’s clients from 200 countries who held over 300,000 bank accounts. In December 2008 Falciani handed over these lists to the French authorities, who then passed on the relevant information to other governments, including Greece.

The revelations that Papandreou was forced by Sarkozy to accept the Troika came from none other than the Italian Corrierre della Sera newspaper. It apparently published some extracts from Falciani’s upcoming book, entitled La cassaforte degli evasore [“The safe of the tax evader”] and as such only confirmed what we here in Greece already suspected (since it was widely published on many news sites - including Hellasfrappe).

In the book, Falciani says that the list of golden depositors was used to enforce the austerity policies in Greece. According to the former bank executive, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was assigned to lead the negotiations with the troika for rescuing Greece. Sarkozy, adds Falciani, was aware of the list and as such was in the position to pressure the Greek Premier at the time.

As soon as Falciani's statements became known, George Papandreou's  Movement of Democrats Socialists issued a statement denouncing the former banker's allegations and argued that the investigation carried out by the Economic and Financial Crime Unit (SDOE) in Greece in Mrs. Papandreou’s finances proved her innocence.

Papandreou’s party warned that charges would be pressed.

To learn the background on this story, please read the following articles:

SPECIAL REPORT - MAJOR BOMB - Margarita Papandreou On Controversial "Lagarde List" With 550mln Account! (VIDEO)
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2012/12/special-report-major-bomb-margarita.html

Margarita Papandreou Speaks Out About 550 Million Account In Switzerland
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/03/margarita-papandreou-speaks-out-about.html

Margaret Papandreou Files Law Suits On Claims Of Being Linked To Lagarde list
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/05/margaret-papandreou-files-law-suits-on.html

Papandreou Offended For Being Included In Lagarde Scandal Probe
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/01/papandreou-offended-for-being-included.html

How Much Money Did Margret Get From Andreas Papandreou?
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/11/how-much-money-did-margret-get-from.html

The Forbidden Nemesis - THIS IS A MUST READ
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/01/the-forbidden-nemesis-this-is-must-read.html

Prosecutor orders investigation into wiretapping allegations

Following the allegation of illegal wiretappings of political party phone lines, based on a report published in Ta Nea on Tuesday, it was reported that an Athens First Instance Court Prosecutor immediately ordered an investigation.

The article in "Ta Nea" was also featured on HellasFrappe in English. -  click HERE

The article states that following a two-week investigation by one of Ta Nea's reporters, where a Cryptophone 500 made by GSMK was used to locate suspect activity in the vicinity of the central offices of New Democracy and SYRIZA, it was discovered that there was such activity going on.

It has been reported that the Norwegian Aftenposten newspaper had used a similar device in one of its reports that were published last month.

Getting back to our story, from the 17,371 readings that Ta Nea carried out, it recorded around 193 “very suspicious” events, along with 64 “serious threats”, 78 “medium threats” and 263 “low threats”. After the publication of the article on Tuesday though, it appears that the wiretaps have “gone silent”.

According to an article in To Vima: Security experts have explained that quite often IMSI catchers are used to monitor phone calls. The article adds that these devices can easily be constructed in order to fool mobile phones thinking they are legitimate mobile phone masts.

BRIBERY SCANDAL - Soukouras says he never bribed anyone, nor has relations with New Democracy

George Soukouras appeared on Mega Channel on Friday morning to deny the charges made against him by Independent Greeks party (ANEL) MP, Stavroula Xoulidou, as the man responsible in an alleged bribe attempt. According to him, he asked Xoulidou whether or not ANEL MP P. Melas took already accepted such a bribe, and not that other way around.

He underlined that there was never an attempt on his part to bribe anyone and that he has no relationship with the conservative New Democracy party. Quite interestingly he said that he “never spoke about money and the (the upcoming election of the Greek) President” but he did admit that he visited the offices of Mrs. Xoulidou, as well as ND MPs Adonis Georgiadis and Notis Mitarakis in order to discuss “the pensions of Northern Epirots”.

Regarding the controversial email where he apparently disclosed to Xoulidou that ANEL MP Panagiotis Melas already accepted a bribe with the aim of securing the 180 votes needed so that Greece would avoid snap elections in early 2015, Soukouras said that this was misread and apologized that Melas was implicated.

On his part, Melas has already responded that the bribery allegation was a "monstrous lie" and has threatened to take legal action against all who implicate him, including his own party colleagues.

It should be reminded that earlier this week the leader of ANEL, Panos Kammenos, told a televised news show that three months ago a member of the New Democracy approached one of his MPs and offered her three million Euros in order to secure their vote. (Click here to read full story)

NEW SCANDAL: ANEL Claims MPs Were Offered Bribes to Vote For New President (VIDEOS)

The leader of the Independent Greeks party (ANEL), Panos Kammenos, on Tuesday night claimed that members from the conservative New Democracy party attempted to bribe an MP from his party in the framework of securing her vote for upcoming election of a new President of the Hellenic Republic.

In a television interview Kammenos noted that three months ago a member of the New Democracy approached one of his MPs and offered her three million Euros in order to secure their vote.

(According to a report on ProtoThema -and the Kontra News Video BELOW- the MP's name is George Soukouri).

It should be reminded that the Greek Parliament is getting ready to vote for a new President of the Republic in March 2015 and the governing coalition is struggling to mass the required 180 votes that are needed in order to do so, or they will be forced to hold snap elections.

The MP, Stavroula Xoulidou, confirmed the information on a televised news show on Tuesday night. She told BlueSky Tv that she received a phone call from a member of the governing party and was offered a bribe that would have solved her economic problems "for life".

Unlike Kammenos, who was very specific about the sum, Xoulidou said that she was offered a bribe in the area of two to three million euros.

She then revealed that ANEL MP Panagiotis Melas had already accepted such a bribe. She said she uncovered this information via an email that was given to her by the ND member who offered her the bribe.

Upon hearing the news, Mr. Melas telephoned the news show and challenged Xoulidou to name the so-called MP so that he could sue him immediately for spreading malicious lies, and if she refused to do so then he would issue a lawsuit against her for involving his name.

He didn't have a chance to, following the news, and with the intent of not permitting a climate of mudslinging to hover over the Greek political scene, Supreme Court Prosecutor Efterpi Koutzamani re-opened a previous case that apparently involves the attempted bribery of politicians.

It should be recalled that in October the main opposition party SYRIZA had cited news reports which hinted that the New Democracy party was collecting bribes for MPs to secure 180 MPs to ultimately elect a President of the Republic from the current Parliament. The move prompted Koutzamani to order an urgent preliminary investigation into these serious allegations and to establish whether or not the crime of MP bribery had been committed. As we all know, the probe proved fruitless since there wasn't sufficient evidence to back up SYRIZA's claims, and rather turned out to be an attempted mud-slinging tactic by the main opposition to discredit the government.  (Read relevant article by clicking HERE)

References in Greek

Dexiextrem
http://dexiextrem.blogspot.gr/2014/11/blog-post_9118.html

ProtoThema
http://www.protothema.gr/politics/article/429723/kammenos-autos-prosefere-3-ekat-stin-xoulidou-gia-na-psifisei-gia-ptd/

BUSTED - Probe Finds 6mln Euros in Karatzaferis offshore accounts

The ongoing investigation into finances of LAOS president George Karatzaferis' suspected wealth and money in several off-shore companies, demonstrates that the commissions from the sale of defence systems and weapons are far more widespread than what one could imagine. This new scandal also shows us that the interest by some individuals in Greece's national issues does not necessarily stem on the fact that they are patriots, but is really about how they will fatten their wallets.

So far, the investigation has revealed about 6 million Euros in his accounts. The money, according to press reports, appears to have been generated from a series of bribes related to various military armament contracts. If the charges hold ground then Karatzaferis could possibly face three felonies (money laundering, submitting a false asset declaration and illegally owning an off-shore company) - given that the case goes to trial.

So far, the investigation has shown that 5.5 million Euros were found in two offshore accounts belonging to Karatzaferis, but it has also brought to the surface the names of five other people who are apparently also involved in the bribes. In fact, some reports claim that a close family member of Karatzaferis could also be facing similar charges.

Prosecutor Panagiotis Brakoumatsos is waiting for a confirmation from the Greek Parliament some time next week regarding the aforementioned charges.

Meanwhile, a report in To Vima exposed the individuals involved in the bribes (from the above total) with noted names such as Th. Moschos, I. Rammos and P. Strantzalis which it said are military officers, and Stavros Komnopoulos and Alexandros Tsatsos who it added are owners of the French Kestrel company.

It should be noted that the French company reportedly acted as a middleman in the purchase of four AS 332 CI Super Puma helicopters from the Eurocopter firm in 2000, which cost a whopping 61,741,925 million euros, with a juicy 5.5 million euro commission.

If one goes back a few years, then everything becomes perfectly clear. It is a well known fact that when LAOS was in Parliament, Karatzaferis, and the members of his party (who today defected over to the ND party), often expressed a special interest in the supplies of the armed forces. The interest was so pressing that on April 28th, 2011 the Minister of National Defense who at the time was Evangelos Venizelos, was forced to publicly admit that Karatzaferis often visited him to ask when Greece would receive two submarines. Later on in Parliament he would skillfully encourage his MPs to ask questions on the matter. Also, the leader of LAOS more or less defended Akis Tsohatzopoulos (in Parliament) and even his off shore companies. (Tsochatzopoulos is serving time for accepting kickbacks and bribes in the sale of defence systems as well).

Some readers of HellasFrappe have criticized our blog for being very critical with Karatzaferis. Indeed we have been on more than one occasion, but we did not do this out of menace or prejudice. We also did not do this because he was a rival to former PM Costas Karamanlis, whom we still support. The reason we were highly critical over Karatzaferis in the past is because we constantly questioned the origin of his vast wealth. We were never convinced -and through our countless articles- often hinted that he was "selling" something else other than a few political lines to his voters. From what we see, we were spot on. He was indeed buying and selling everything from people to defence systems.

In the mid 1980s Karatzaferis was supposedly combating the state television monopoly and had joined a so-called anti-propaganda machine against PASOK. He wandered through the streets with a camera and would make his own news bulletins, the tapes of which he would later “sell” (make your own conclusions on what exactly it was he was selling and to whom -and at what price-).

His efforts may have been quite amateur at the time, and downright silly, but he always gave the impression to (a large percentage of his audience that is) that he was fighting for free information and freedom of speech. His theatrical and charismatic skills paid off and in no time he established his own television channel which in all honesty was hardly noticed by the general public.

Most people would agree that he has audacity, and always comes across as being very blunt. This is probably why he created a school of nationalists who were infused with neoliberal and neodemocratic ideologies through his channel.

This all developed even further when Christodoulos was elected as the Archbishop of Athens and all of Greece. At the time, Karatzaferis -being the opportunist that he was/is- decided to put on his best Christian suit. The moralistic, religious and nationalistic turn of Greek society, with its congregations, banners and protests over ID cards that occurred at the height of Christodoulos' reign as Archbishop, was manipulated by Karatzaferis and he suddenly came across as being the defender against the New World Order -especially during the period 1996-2004 or during Costas Simitis’ rule, and the protector of the Orthodox faith (since at least 95 percent of the Greek population is Orthodox).

In the same period, Karatzaferis also purposely collided with his own party leader Costas Karamanlis, and after literally insulting him with obnoxious innuendos was expelled from the party and never allowed to return.

So Karatzaferis did what he does best, he decided to bank on the opportunity and following the elections in 2000 he established the LAOS party. He went door to door and spoke to many people preaching about what is just and what is honorable and at the time quite a few people bought in on his play, especially in Northern Greece. So much so that during the municipal elections in 2002, his forces strengthened further. At some point the Golden Dawn party began to become active as well and it is a well known fact that some members from GD found their way on his ballots.

After receiving 14% of the vote, Karatzaferis the puritan and defender of all that is good and just -and who today is ready to be charged with money-laundering- transformed again and this time became a preacher of morals, nationalism, sensationalism and the defender of the status quo. Who can forget the summer of 2002 when he wandered from television station to television station indicating possible terrorist hideouts? Just 12 years later the man who sold the ideologies of "country, religion, family" (patris, thriskeia, oikogeneia), is set to be charged for taking millions of Euros (or Greek payers tax money) in kickbacks and bribes!

It is almost too comical. In the day he would promote the cross that decorated his emblem, swear allegiance to the country, the church and the nation and at night he would discuss what types of defence systems were better for Greece, given that he received a kickback or two.

Frappers, the case of Karatzaferis is just another example of the fading credibility of Greece's political system. This grand (lying) moralist was fooling society in the worst possible way, and we cannot say that we are upset that his true face has finally been revealed.

Opportunists such as Karatzaferis are too obvious to us and we knew from day one that he was dipping into the honey jar while pretending to preach the truth. Again, this was not because we were more inclined to Costas Karamanlis -who was and forever will be a big rival of Karatzaferis- but because we new in our gut that it was all fake.

Over the last few days many startling facts about his wealth have surfaced and one would think that he would have the decency to explain himself, or to at least offer to give back this money to the state. Unfortunately he hasn't and the few words that he has muttered are only to defend his own likelihood. Again, we are not convinced, on the contrary we believe that all he is doing is buying some time in order to prepare for the storm ahead. All this from the man who defended George Papandreou with a menace in 2008 against Karamanlis, who a few years later signed the First Memorandum and endorsed it on all levels, and the man who always placed the Mitsotakis family -and especially Dora Bakoyianni- above Costas Karamanlis.

Let us hope that the investigation continues and may it reveal the responsibilities of those who are implicated. This bribery scourge, which obviously flourished for many years in this sector, has to finally come to an end.

HellasFrappe Team

BUSTED: Karatzaferis, Two Offshore Accounts, & Purchases of Military Helicopters

The Kestrel company (which is a representative of French companies such as MBDA, Eurocopter etc. and by the manufacturer of firefighting CL-415 Canadair air crafts), apparently sent remittances of well over EUR 1,650,000 during two different instances to offshore companies that (behold) belong to the leader of the extreme right LAOS party, George Karatzaferis, according to Greek judicial officials.

More exactly, and based on new evidence that surfaced following an extensive judicial investigation, the case concerns the supply of AS 332 Super Puma helicopters for the Hellenic Air Force in 2000. The relevant documents, of which have apparently been sent to the Greek Parliament, will now be examined (and determine) whether or not the President of LAOS included these two companies (as well as the shady remittances) in his "pothen esches" (or origin of wealth statement), and if he also included the two offshore accounts which were unknown until today.

It has to be noted that Karatzaferis was not an MP when this transaction apparently occurred (he was ousted by the ND party prior to this incident.) 

At least one remittance has already been identified in one of these two offshore accounts.

This is the first time that offshore companies have been identified and directly been linked to a party leader.

The payments were made ​​by the Kestrel company, which includes shareholders such as Alexander Tsatsos and Stavros Komnopoulos. Following Th. Liakounakou's AXON company, it is reported that Kestrel is the second largest company that manufacturers various weapon systems. The company is said to also be involved in other industries such as the health sector (Metropolitan hospital), as well as invests heavily in yacht companies.

It should be reminded that the former deputy director of armaments at the Ministry of National Defense, Antonis Kantas, has already testified that he was bribed by a total of 10 weapons dealers, or representatives of defence system companies, with hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Euros in kickbacks.

During Kantas’s first testimony to magistrates, in mid-December 2013 (check links below), he had implicated many names in this MEGA scandal, but he had also described how senior politicians, even from the same party, often took differing positions over defense contracts during public debates. For instance, when the purchase of new fighter planes was being discussed in the Greek Parliament, and according to Kantas' testimony, some Greek politicians would support one tender more than the other.

As mentioned above, S. Komnopoulos, who is a major shareholder at Kestrel, has been noted by Kantas and reported to be involved in this armaments scandal.

After the news about the two offshore accounts hit the press, George Karatzeferis said he did not deny the ownership of the two offshore accounts but stated, (in his own defence), that he does not know A. Tsatsos and S. Komnopoulos.

Stay tuned Frappers, the plot is thickening day by day.

Reference in Greek - Defencenet

If you want to find out more about this scandal then we propose that you also read:

BUSTED - Greece SUES German Arms Manufacturer For Faulty Submarines
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2014/06/busted-greece-sues-german-arms.html

Kantas faces new bribery & money laundry charges in arms scandal
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2014/02/kantas-faces-new-bribery-money-laundry.html

PLOT THICKENS - Head of German Industry Lobby Implicated in Greek Arms Scandal
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2014/01/plot-thickens-head-of-german-industry.html

ARMS SCANDAL: Did Kantas Implicate Former PM Mitsotakis?
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2014/02/arms-scandal-was-former-pm-mitsotakis.html

SHOCK - 24 million Euros Kickback Given To Government Minister!
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2014/01/shock-24-million-euros-kickback-given.html

Armaments Scandal - Shipowner Michalis Matados Charged Of Money Laundering
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2014/01/armaments-scandal-shipowner-michalis.html

More Arrested Over Bribery & Kickbacks Claims In Arms Deals
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2014/01/more-arrested-over-bribery-kickbacks.html

Russian Arms Exporter Denies Links to Greek Arms Bribe Scandal
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2014/01/russian-arms-exporter-denies-links-to.html

SPECIAL REPORT - Kantas EXPOSES Massive German-Greek Web of Corruption In Defence Contracts
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/12/special-report-kantas-exposes-massive.html