Viki Stamati: excess is no crime
Viki Stamati, the wife of ex-Defense Minister Akis Tsochadzopoulos — both in pretrial custody at Korydallos Prison on money laundering charges — denied having knowledge that her husband used funds from kickbacks for arms procurements to purchase a luxury house at the foot of the Acropolis in her name through an off-shore company.
Speaking to Kathimerini?s Sunday edition, Stamati also said that she never considered questioning where the money she used to lavishly furnish the home had come from. ?Let?s say that I accept that over the course of my marriage I lived ?comfortably,? covered by my husband?s income and benefits. Where is the crime in that?? Stamati said.
Asked whether she was surprised at the outcome of the investigation that led to her and and her husband?s arrest in April, Stamati said ?I was not afraid because I have never been in public office, I did not sign any ministerial decisions, I was not a member of the government?s defense council. I was not a politician… I was an average Greek woman who married a minister.?
Stamati also denied any connection money laundering. ?There is nothing connecting me to my husband?s associates,? she said.
