Court freezes bank accounts of Folli Follie founders

A court in Athens ordered the freezing of all bank accounts and safe deposit boxes used by the Koutsolioutsos family, the founders of the troubled jeweler Folli Follie, as well as those of the company's board members, amid a judicial probe into Folli's finances.

According to banking sources, the order, requested by the economic prosecutor Yiannis Dragatsis and issued by the Athens Council of Misdemeanors, has already reached Greek banks and securities firms.

Dragatsis is examining the decisions of the Capital Market Commission (CMC) which slapped the company and nine board members or officials with a fine of 4.02 million euros for market manipulation and violation of rules regarding data submission in early August.

The prosecutor may also investigate possible delays by the CMC in suspending trading of the company’s shares.

Folli Follie faces the threat of closure following the revelation of a hole of 290 million dollars in the company’s cash reserves last year and 1 billion dollars in Asia sales following a preliminary report by Alvarez & Marsal that collected the data from Folli Follie’s activity in Asia.

These discrepancies was even greater than the estimates made by hedge fund QCM, which brought the case to light last May.