On Friday, Athens First Instance Court prosecutor Yiannis Dragatsis recommended felony charges be pressed against high-profile entrepreneur Lavrentis Lavrentiadis and another 25 individuals, in relation to massive loans that proved damaging for Proton Bank, and which were approved when Lavrentiadis was a board member.
The loans, estimated at 701 million euros, were allegedly approved for companies or individuals related directly or indirectly to Lavrentiadis. The 110-page-long indictment was forwarded to financial prosecutor Grigoris Peponis, following a preliminary investigation that lasted several months.
Based on the findings of the probe, Lavrentiadis, along with four other Proton Bank board members and 15 company managers, who received portions of the 701-million-euro sum, should face felony charges for participation in a criminal organisation, which jointly committed fraud against the state, as well as money laundering charges.
Dragatsis also recommends that Lavrentiadis be charged with embezzlement concerning the sum of 54 million euros. He also recommended that six executives of the Lavrentiadis-controlled Alapis health sector company be charged with money laundering.
Lavrentiadis has already returned 51 million euros to Proton Bank, while 160 million euros in Swiss bank accounts have been blocked.
(source: ana-mpa)
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