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Lavrentios Lavrentiadis, owner of Proton bank, will have to give explanations in the case of its bankruptcy to the Athens District Court, which is investigating the case.

The businessman will be questioned as accused of committing serious crimes. According to sources, the court will ask him to explain the € 700 million loan granted by the bank to his companies during the time when he was its manager, i.e. after 2010.

Judicial authorities are investigating loans granted by Proton bank after a case of a loan amounting to € 51 million to a Lavrentios Lavrentiadis’ company which was discovered in the summer. Prosecutor Yiannis Dragatsis called another six people to give explanations - members of the board and senior representatives of the bank during the investigated period. According to the judicial authorities, at the time, Proton bank had granted € 700 million in loans to "companies in which Lavrentios Lavrentiadis was involved directly or indirectly."

The investigation of this amount continues and it seems that the number of suspects will increase because the persons involved are about 20. The crimes for which Lavrentios Lavrentiadis and the six other bank officials will answer to are: formation of a criminal group, blackmailing coupled with violation of the abuse of state property law and legalization of income from illegal activities.

At the same time, the case of the loan of € 51 million remains open because prosecutor Grigoris Peponis refuses to send it to the archives. And this despite the fact that Lavrentios Lavrentiadis paid back the amount to the bank. According to some sources, the prosecutor refusal is due to the fact that after the repayment, Proton bank representatives have requested suspension of the criminal persecution against the businessman.