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The cousin of former Defence Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos, Nikos Zigras, told in detail during his nine-hour defence speech, how close friends Yiannis Sbokos, Yiannis Beltsios, but also he himself, have carried suitcases with "dirty" money from bribes for the submarines and for the supply of Russian anti-aircraft missiles TOR Μ1

A new face in the affair is Dinos Michailidis, former Minister of the Interior in the Cypriot government who Zigras said played a major role, because, together with Tsohadzopulos, they organized giving and taking of bribes. The main points of the defence speech are as follows:

"The moral and physical perpetrators who organized, planned and played a major role in this case, are Apostolos (Akis) Tsochatzopoulos, Vlassis Kamburoglu, Fouad Al Zayat and Dinos Michailidis. The final recipients of the money are Apostolos Tsochatzopoulos and Giannis Sbokos. Dinos Michailidis is a key person in the case and a personal friend of Akis Tsochatzopoulos, whom the latter had introduced to me as an exceptionally trusted person. He was the man who oversaw all meetings and contacts between Al Zayat, Kambouroglou and Tsochatzopoulos. He was the man who personally carried in suitcases large sums of money in Greece, all the cheques from Zayat and Kambouroglou in Greece and Cyprus, as well as cash, together with his son, Michalis Michailidis. These people should immediately be interrogated because they play a key role in this case…".

500,000 euro is the cost of the divorce

"I also want to tell you that later another man joined, who was carrying in bags large sums of money for Tsochatzopoulos. This man is Yannis Beltsios, who kept in touch with Akis Tsochatzopoulos because apparently was involved in another affair. Also, I should mention some other specific cases, such as Margarita Terzi, who lives in Switzerland, and who is supposed to be the owner of a super luxury apartment in Thessaloniki, bought by Tsochatzopoulos in the name of his daughter, Areti. You should check how the price of the apartment is paid, what the relationship is between Terzi and Tsochatzopoulos and his wife Vicky Stamati and how Terzi ends up in the post in the Ministry of Defence. You should check how many thousands of dollars in bags Tsochatzopoulos's former wife, Gudrun, has taken with her abroad , in order to agree to a divorce. I know that she has received the sum of 500,000 dollars at a time, and this money hasn't been declared anywhere ... As far as his son, Alexandros, is concerned, he has received shares in a catering company in Patission Street, named STOA. I know that his father has paid the former owner, a newspaper publisher, the value of the share, which is over 400,000 euro, money that was paid in cash and is not declared anywhere ... ".

"Yiannis Sbokos is the person who has received huge amounts of money invested by his father-in-law, who is related to a stock company. The sums, invested by his father-in-law, came from Sbokos and Tsochatzopoulos. I must say that this is money that Tsochatzopoulos wants to take back from Sbokos even today, whom, in his notes, he refers to as Voskos (in Greek - "shepherd"). In all his trips abroad, contacts with banks and stays in luxury hotels, Tsochatzopoulos has used my name and a passport of mine, expired in 1990."

"As far as the Nobilis company is concerned, I declare that I am in no way affiliated with this company and what I know, I know from Akis Tsochatzopoulos and Efrosina Lambropoulou. The company is founded on behalf of Tsochatzopoulos by a law firm that sold offshore companies on behalf of Maria Tsekoura and Sbokos gave its shares to Tsochatzopoulos. Akis Tsochatzopoulos controlled the company and wanted to buy the house in Areopagitou Street this way. Efrosina Lambropoulou, his accountant, knows all the secrets and machinations of former Prime Minister. I think it would be interesting to check the accounts of Nobilis and Maria Tsekoura for the period after the purchase of the house near the Acropolis, up to 2001, from the company TORCASO. Buying property is virtual and is implemented without any money being paid ... ".

Zigras added that as a tenant, Tsochatzopoulos has significantly changed the house with the help of Asterios Ikonomidis's architect company ARCON, costing thousands of euros ... Working together with him was one more architect, George Andriotakis, collaborator of Areti Tsochatzopoulos and of the former minister.

I established TORCASO in 1998 in Cyprus, by order of Tsochatzopoulos. It was created so that, as explained by Tsochatzopoulos, some friends to transfer him large amounts of money which to be invested in real estate ... The properties were in Areopagitou Street, Kifissias Avenue and Kefallinias Street. The company's management board, with executive director Spyros Hadzinikolau, opened a bank account in Cyprus and in the Cypriot bank in Greece ...", added Zigras.

"Large sums of money were transferred into the account of TORCASO, but also into BLUE BELL, Switzerland, into the bank Credit Lyonnais. Bank cheques were issued by Michailidis as well, and for this purpose the office of the businessman Melas was also mobilized. Cash was given to Tsochatzopoulos by his partner Melas Andoniadis as well…".

"Subsequently, my health deteriorated and Tsochatzopoulos paid my expences to a clinic in Munich. His real interest was related to himself, he didn’t want me to die, in order to enlighten him about his accounts ... ".

"Both his former and the current wife of Tsochatzopoulos know everything, and because Tsochatzopoulos himself has shared his secrets with his wives. I know that he has made strenuous efforts to become a member and receive parliamentary immunity, and has paid over 2.5 million euro to buy the votes of the Pontic Greeks, gypsies and others."

All bribes for Akis submarines