Picture: ethnos.gr
A collaborator of the brother of British Prime Minister David Cameron is the defence attorney of businessman Kyriakos Griveas and his wife Anastasia Vatsika, who are involved in the syphoning off of TT Hellenic Postbank. They were arrested in London with an arrest warrant issued by Greek investigative authorities. A few days later, however, they were released after they were imposed restrictive measures, and according to British legislation, Athens can hardly require their extradition. And in order to be sure that this will not happen, they have hired the best possible lawyer.
According to an article of Ethnos, Griveas and Vatsika have entrusted their legal protection to the care of the law firm headed by David Cameron's brother, Alexander. This is one of the oldest and most expensive layer’s offices specialized in the defence of unusual customers - from institutions such as the police to individual countries.
According to the newspaper, Griveas and Vatsika are paying defence attorney Ben Brandon 6,000 euros per hour. He is specialized in cases concerning the extradition of foreign nationals from the UK. According to the academic site "Prospects", the salary of the most prominent employees of the firm, with more than 10 years’ experience, reaches 1 million pounds (1.56 million euro).
Ben Brandon has worked as an attorney for more than 20 years. During this period, he has defended highly controversial people who have provoked strong public reactions with their actions. One of them is the so-called "Apostle of hate", Imam-extremist Abu Hamza, who has urged the commitment of criminal acts in the name of Allah in his speeches during prayers. He was arrested in 2004, when American authorities required his extradition in connection with the kidnapping of 16 tourists by terrorists in Yemen. Despite evidence underpinning allegations that Hamza headed an operation for the establishment of a training camp for terrorists on American territory in order to prepare fighters for jihad in Afghanistan, Brandon was able to save him from extradition. He told the court that the data was obtained by means of torment and in this way the American request was rejected.
The lawyer is a specialist in this area, as show other cases described in his biographical reference. For example, he managed to save another client from extradition to Greece, arguing that prison conditions in Komotini were inhumane. The experienced attorney, however, has also worked in favour of countries which have requested the extradition of defendants, including the famous case of Indian Ravi Sankaran, who was accused of military espionage and trafficking of weapons.
The latest success of the firm is related to the defence of the police in the murder trial of Mark Duggan, who was killed in London by security forces during a riot in August 2011.
Brandon, however, is a specialist in a wide range of cases, including cases related to frauds, like the case of TT Hellenic Postbank. The most recent of these is the case against a senior employee of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse who hid financial losses in order to increase his bonuses. He was extradited to the USA almost a year and a half after his arrest in Britain.
It is abundantly clear that Griveas and Vatsika aim to stay in London for as much time as possible, and that is why their lawyer has tried to delay the hearing as much as possible. At the trial on 5 February, Brandon requested the separate consideration of each part of the complicated case, but the court refused. "Precisely because we know that this is a complicated and time-consuming trial, it would be better for both sides to accelerate the hearing," said the judge in the reasoning of his decision. He rejected 14 April which was the date requested by the defence and scheduled 24 February as the next date for the hearing of the Greek businessman and his wife. A famous British lawyer told Ethnos newspaper that the delay of the final decision in the case of the extradition of the couple which is aimed by the lawyer of Griveas and Vatsika can easily be rejected by the judges.
However, regardless of whether and when they will be extradited to Greece, the most important question remains: How two people who have no assets in London (neither a house, nor an office) and whose company has reported high losses in recent years can afford to recruit one of the most famous, specialized, highly effective and expensive lawyers in the UK?