Couple accused of taking hospital kickbacks given until Friday to testify

An Athens prosecutor on Tuesday gave a couple accused of taking millions of euros in kickbacks while at the helm of a hospital belonging to the Red Cross until Friday to prepare their testimony for deposition.

Andreas Martinis, 72, and his wife Georgia have been accused of accepting a bribe in 1998 of 3.2 million euros from a German company to award it a contract for supplying the Henry Dunant Hospital in northern Athens, of which Martinis was director, with equipment and supplies.

Investigators acting on the orders of corruption prosecutor Eleni Raikou have evidence allegedly uncovered suggesting the couple laundered the money through an offshore company over the course of a probe that has taken more than a year.

They have not been charged with embezzlement as the statute of limitations has expired but they have been charged with money laundering.