In-depth search of commissions on bonds of social security funds
The Capital Market Commission is immediately starting checks on stockbrokerages to learn about the size of commissions they charged social security funds to pay for bond transactions, Economy and Finance Minister Giorgos Alogoskoufis announced yesterday. «We are advancing with all the means we have at our disposal to find out everything about this case, and citizens will know the whole truth,» promised Alogoskoufis. He met with the presidents of the commission, Alexis Pilavios, and of the independent committee against money laundering, Giorgos Zorbas, and with the general secretary of the Special Inspections Agency, Ilias Argyros. They agreed that inspections must stretch to five years back, the period for which stockbrokerage firms are obliged to maintain records. The minister was updated by Zorbas about the progress of the probe concerning the commission that emerged from bonds of the Civil Servants’ Auxiliary Fund (TEADY). Zorbas is trying to identify the people behind the two offshore companies in Cyprus that are linked with the Acropolis stockbrokerage company. He is also investigating how National Bank of Greece employees gave -2.4 million in cash to the president and CEO of Acropolis, Giorgos Apostolidis, without establishing what he needed this money for. Also under investigation is another offshore company, based on the Isle of Man in the UK, along with suspicious bond transactions with other funds. «We are investigating any case, any transaction that might appear suspicious,» the minister stated. Insufficient legislation Speaking on Skai Television earlier yesterday, Alogoskoufis stressed that the institutional framework on the reserves of social security funds is insufficient, and that this case has proven that the social security funds have not been able to safeguard the money of the people insured with the investments they make. Also yesterday, Acropolis asked TEADY to proceed immediately with the sale of the four bonds the company acquired from the fund on August 1, 2006. If that happens, suggested the stockbrokerage firm, the fund will cash in real profits of -2.8 million.
