Five convicts appeal fresh indictment over defense kickbacks

A former senior Defense Ministry official, two brokers and two entrepreneurs have appealed to Greece’s Supreme Court to overturn a ruling indicting them for allegedly pocketing kickbacks from old defense deals.

Yiannis Sbokos, a former general secretary for military procurements who is serving time in jail for money laundering, allegedly claims that the new indictment draws on old evidence that does not point to new offenses. The brokers Petros and Giorgos Christodoulides, businessman Giorgos Kamaris and Lambros Bartzokas, the representative in Greece of a Russian missile manufacturer, also appealed the indictment.

All five face charges of money laundering and bribe taking in connection with a deal for the acquisition of Tor-M1 missiles that was signed in 1998 when Akis Tsochatzopoulos was defense minister.