Photo: tanee.gr
A report of the pre-trial parliamentary committee ruled out in court a criminal investigation of the former Minister of Defense and chairman of PASOK for short and Prime Minister Akis Tsohadzopoulos. Its members urged the heads of the Ministry of Finance to enforce the property seizure procedures not only for the former Prime Minister, but also for all individual persons who are suspected of being involved in the purchase of the German submarines.
The members of the pre-trial committee accused Akis Tsohadzopoulos of the serious crime of accepting bribes, which he made in the period from the 1st of November 1999 to the 27th of September 2007, having received at least 7,777,773 USD.
According to the committee, during the hearing, that amount could prove to be greater after the opening of all bank accounts of the offshore company Torcaso and of all individual and legal persons related to the case.
The members of the pre-trial committee accused Akis Tsohadzopoulos in legalization of incomes from illegal activities, i.e. money laundering. In their report they call on Justice to initiate criminal proceedings against him for actions he committed between the 17th of November 1999 and the 16th of April, 2010.
According to the committee members, the specific crimes are not covered by the limitation period, because they are out of the competence of Akis Tsohadzopoulos as a minister. According to the Rules of Parliament, the Plenary Session will have to decide whether it agrees with the report of the pre-trial committee by a secret ballot held within 15 days.
In a written reply, the former minister defined the report as "completely unfounded and unsubstantiated" and said that only he had approved the preliminary decisions taken and the backstage agreements "behind the commission and outside its operations. " Akis Tsohadzopoulos determined the charges as "unfounded and ridiculous statements through which they think they would deceive public opinion and allay popular discontent" and expressed his belief that the "forged" indictment would break down before the court.