Former PASOK minister found guilty of money laundering
An Athens court has found Tassos Mandelis, a former socialist transport minister, guilty of money laundering.
The defendant’s bribery conviction (for which he could face up to life in prison), however, was time-barred under the statute of limitations.
Judges ruled that Mandelis had received 450,000 German marks as a bribe from Germany’s Siemens for the signing of a 1997 agreement involving the digitalization of Greece’s largest telecoms company OTE.
The money, which was received in two instalments in 1998 and 2000, was deposited in a Swiss bank account held by George Tsougranis, a close associate of Mandelis, under the name “Roccos.”
Meanwhile, Tsougranis was acquitted of charges of money laundering and bribe-taking.
