Ex-defense minister’s daughter taken into custody [Update]
Areti Tsochatzopoulou, daughter of former Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos, was remanded into temporary custody after submitted a written deposition on Thursday to a magistrate that is investigating allegations that her father accepted bribes which he hid through a series of offshore companies.
Tsochatzopoulou is accused of profiting from her father?s alleged activities and of engaging in a bogus transaction to buy a 402-square-meter property in Kolonaki, one of Athens?s most expensive neighborhoods.
Four suspects implicated in the money-laundering scandal were released Wednesday after testifying before an investigating magistrate, one on the condition that he reports to police once a month.
Two of the suspects are representatives of Morelia, a shell company that prosecutors believe transferred cash from the alleged kickbacks to offshore firms, while the other two are representatives of Bluebell and Torcaso, two of the three offshore firms linked to the money-laundering network. The Torcaso representative was the one granted conditional release.
All four are accused of helping Tsochatzopoulos launder kickbacks from defense deals through the purchase of properties.
