Michalopoulos to be charged
The publisher of a far right-wing daily being investigated for allegedly extorting money from leading businessmen, ostensibly to save them from assassination by the November 17 terrorist group, should be indicted for blackmail and attempted fraud according to the findings of a six-week probe that are expected to be published today. Sources close to the investigation said prosecutor Dimitrios Papangelopoulos – who headed the investigation – will recommend that there is sufficient evidence to charge Eleftheri Ora publisher Grigoris Michalopoulos. The charges only concern alleged extortion from businessmen, while Papangelopoulos will next proceed to investigate claims that Michalopoulos also took money from top clerics. The prosecutor has already spoken to the bishops of Zakynthos – who confirmed the allegations – and Thebes. During the first part of the investigation, Papangelopoulos took testimony from dozens of witnesses, including industrialist Theodoros Angelopoulos and his wife Gianna, chief of Greece’s Olympic organizing committee.
