From the luxurious residence in Dion. Areopagitou to the Korydallos prison

For about a decade or so, and according to the findings so far, Efrosini Labropoulou has appeared as the managing director of offshore companies that were involved in the trail of black money and the acquisition of luxury real estate properties.

Zigras will play a key role, as he has also allegedly been the manager of offshore companies since 1997 with Tsohatzopoulos as the beneficiary owner. Regarding Sachpatzidis, he was the businessman allegedly representing the Vatopedi Monastery in the transfer of three properties on  Kifissias Avenue, with Tsohatzopoulos as the seller.

It should be noted that apart from the former minister, Asterios Ikonomidis is also in jail, as he appears to be the president and CEO of “ARCON”, based in Thessaloniki.

Pleas are expected to continue with about ten more people, among them members of the former minister’s family facing the same offense as him, whose names are listed in the prosecutorial report.

Akis in Korydallos

Yesterday, Easter Monday, it was decided thatTsohatzopoulos should be imprisoned since according to information, investigator Gabriel Malis and prosecutor Nikos Voulgaris maintained that the former PASOK minister must go to jail after giving insufficient answers about the offshore companies. He was also deemed a flight risk and liable to commit new crimes, while prosecutors took also into account the charge of money laundering to the degree of felony, which Akis allegedly was completely unable to challenge.

Accompanied by his lawyers and appearing relatively calm, the former minister passed the office door of the examining prosecutor at around 10 am on Monday. He greeted journalists, to whom he also apologized for bringing them to the courts on the second day of Easter. And he gave a 15-page statement to the prosecutor, although his case file contains more than 10,000 pages.

According to reports, the former minister requested a new deadline for his plea, a request that was denied by the trial judge, with the whole setting pointing to ignorance of the risks involved on the part of the former minister, who seems unable to believe that the situation is so serious.

After about two hours for the study of his statement, Malis started submitting clarification questions to the former minister.

He tried to “divide” responsibilities

Tsohatzopoulos was persistently asked by the prosecutor regarding the case of German submarines and the money allegedly received by a "commission" through offshore companies from the German consortium called Ferrostaal. According to information, the former minister reportedly said that the "green light" to implement these agreements was given by KYSEA and the committees that ruled accordingly. However, according to the indictment these committees were recommended by himself through one of his decisions.

Based on the same information, when asked about the network of offshore companies and his cousin Nicholaos Zigras, who had assumed management of many of them according to the findings of prosecutors Helen Kyvelou and Eugenia Siskou, Tsochatzopoulos allegedly spoke of a simple coincidence.

“Whatever I did was for the sake of the country”

One of the questions addressed to him referred to the remittance identified on an account of Catherine Stamatis, aunt to his wife, Vicki Stamatis. According to the prosecutor’s conclusion, it is a 3-million-drachma remittance in 2001 by an offshore company with Tsohatzopoulos as the recipient.

C. Stamatis withdrew the whole amount in just one day, although the only remittances in that account came from her pension of just 700 euros. To this, the former minister reportedly replied that it was a bank error and that he and his wife have no responsibility for it.

Apparently he spoke of a political conspiracy against him and that whatever he did with the armament programs he did for the best interest of our country. He even talked about lapsed accusations and of invalidity of the warrant under which he was arrested and brought before the prosecutor.