Wife of ex minister on trial for money laundering in hospital
Viki Stamati, the wife of former Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos, who is on trial with him and another 17 co-defendants in connection to a massive money laundering network, was admitted to the capital’s G. Gennimata hospital on Friday, her lawyers said.
Stamati, aged 50, was hospitalized for treatment for «a very serious health problem,» her lawyer Alexis Kougias said. He added that medics at G. Gennimata and Metaxa, another Athens hospital, were cooperating to treat his client.
Stamati was not in court on Thursday after her lawyer cited “health problems of a psychiatric nature.» The 50-year-old, who was in custody at Attica’s high-security Korydallos prison for nearly a year before the trial began last month, has been admitted to the prison’s hospital and transferred to other institutions several times, chiefly for «gynecological problems.»
The trial of Tsochatzopoulos, Stamati and their 17 co-defendants — on charges of laundering kickbacks from procurement contracts that the ex minister is alleged to have pocketed — resumes on Tuesday.
