Ex-PM adviser honors fine but vows legal action
Stavros Papastavrou, an adviser to former prime minister Antonis Samaras, on Tuesday paid a 3.5-million-euro fine to avoid a criminal investigation being launched in connection with an account linked to him on the so-called Lagarde list of Greek depositors.
Claiming to be a victim of political persecution, Papastavrou, who is a lawyer, said he plans to take legal action to clear his name, declaring that Greek-Israeli businessman Sabby Mionis is the account’s beneficiary.
Papastavrou confirmed a link to the businessman and said he borrowed the money to pay the fine from Mionis.
In a statement, Papastavrou said he paid “to comply with the regulations” but insisted that the penalty had been unfairly imposed on him, claiming that “fabricated evidence of unknown origin” was used against him in a bid to damage him professionally and personally.
In his deposition to a prosecutor probing the Lagarde list last year, Papastavrou insisted he is innocent of any wrongdoing and that the 5.5 million euros related to the business activities of a client of Mionis who he described as his client as well.
