Akis Tsohatzopoulos arrested

Executing the warrant of the First Instance Court, policemen, the Financial Crime unit and judicial officials arrested the former minister of National Defence Akis Tsohatzopoulos, outside his residence on Dionysiou Areopagitou street a few minutes before 11 am on Holy Wednesday.

"We are going to the investigating judge, we'll talk over there," said the former minister at the entrance of the General Police Directorate of Attica, where he was led before being transported the to the Courts.

According to information, the warrant issued by the First Instance Court of Prosecutors is for all the assets of Tsohatzopoulos, and his bank statements for the acquisition of assets through offshore companies, which include the neo-classical house on Dionysiou Areopagitou street; in other words, authorities are gathering evidence for a charge of money laundering.

Reliable court sources report that there is a cash flow from offshore companies to Tsohatzopoulos’ accounts by the German company Ferrostaal, which was proven to have been involved in illegal payments and bribes to secure a major contract for constructing four Type 214 submarines, for which the former Defense minister signed in 2000.

According to reports, an arrest warrant has also been issued for other intermediaries involved in these offshore companies.

"We will see many more such cases", PASOK MP Petros Efthymiou said on SKAI TV. As he said, the new law for Personal Property statements, published yesterday in the Government Gazette, will now force politicians to prove not how much money they have, but how they acquired it.

PASOK: Justice must do its job undistracted

“Justice must do its job undistracted, PASOK members say, commenting on the arrest of Tsohatzopoulos.

“It would have been better had it come sooner”, they added, hinting on the timing of the issuing of the arrest warrant on the former minister.