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Eight years in prison and confiscation of the house under the Acropolis for Akis Tsohatzopoulos

04 March 2013 / 17:03:10  GRReporter
3364 reads

Anastasia Balezdrova

Eight years in prison, 520 thousand euro and confiscation of the luxury property on Dionisiou Areopagito Street has been ruled today by a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal in Athens.

The first trial against former Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos started with a half hour delay. He sat in the dock for filing false property declarations in the period from 2006 to 2009.

The delay was due to his defenders’ request to postpone the proceedings. After a short session, the three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal in Athens rejected the request.

According to the indictment, in 2006 he did not declare money in bank accounts, stocks and other securities to the amount of about 47 thousand euro. In 2007, he did not declare 33 thousand euro and 20 thousand euro in 2008. In 2009, the declaration did not contain the purchase of a house in neoclassical style on the foothills of the Acropolis by his wife Vicky Stamati.
 
The former minister listened to the testimony of two parliament workers with great attention. They said they had found some discrepancies and called Akis Tsohatzopoulos to submit the data to them. As revealed by the testimony, associates of the former minister had submitted the required documentation a month later.

Akis Tsohatzopoulos began his testimony in a low tone, which gradually rose. He spoke for over 15 minutes with the vigour of his long experience on the floor of parliament and in ministerial positions.

According to him, he was late in declaring the purchase of the luxury property in the property declaration in parliament only because he was not aware of the changes in the law. "My associates followed the practice used for many years, namely to declare the changes in my property status during the following year. I did not know that the law had been changed in 2003. I believed that I was not doing anything wrong. I did not want to hide anything and this is clear from the tax returns in which I stated everything."

The former minister said that the case had been started after a "merciless media campaign." "The case was brought up in relation with other cases, in which I had been involved. Suddenly, I found myself involved in the case of Siemens, in which I had not intervened at all. I did not sign any contracts. However, my name was added to the list of persons under investigation at the last minute. This was done by PASOK, whose leadership had ordered the deputies to vote against me."

In support of his words about his failure to declare his property in the property declaration in parliament, he said, "Actually, this declaration exists and rightly so, only with respect to the transparency of politicians. The true relationship between the citizens and the state is the tax return. And mine contains all changes in my property status."

Akis Tsohatzopoulos firmly stated, "The main reason is the house." He said that it was family property, although the documents show that his wife is the owner. "I am an underwriter. You know that banks do not approve a 25-year mortgage for buyers over the age of 70 years. Therefore, my wife, who is much younger than me as you know, made the purchase." 
 
When asked by the presiding judge whom he had bought the house from, he replied that he had bought it from an American company called Nobilis. It, in turn, had purchased the property 10 years earlier from the offshore company Torcaso, which the former minister is believed to have owned.

The prosecutor said in his pleading that the former minister had deliberately not declared the changes in his property status from 2006 onwards and proposed that the defendant be found guilty. After a short session, the judicial council confirmed the sentence.

The judges did not take into account the mitigating circumstances of Akis Tsohatzopulos’ decent life suggested by his defenders. They sentenced him to seven years in prison for incorrect property declarations, a fine of 520 thousand euro and ordered the seizure of the house. The specific property has been blocked for almost a year by order of the magistrate, who is in charge of the investigation of the bribes received by companies for military equipment.

After the announcement of the sentence, the former minister said that he did not accept the court decision and added that political interests were hiding behind it. Akis Tsohatzopoulos said that he would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. By decision of the judges, he will serve his sentence of seven years in prison for felony as they ruled that the penalty could not be altered on appeal.

 

Tags: Crime newsCourtAkis TsohatzopoulosPrisonHouseVicky StamatiSeizure
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