NEWS

Fugitive businessman turns himself in

A businessman who has been on the run since July when authorities began investigating his relationship to arrested former banker Victor Restis turned himself in on Tuesday.

Anastasios Pallis is expected to appear before a prosecutor later in the day to be served the warrant for his arrest in connection with money laundering charges and faces additional charges of illegal possession of weapons.

Searches on his home in southern Athens and a war museum run by him in October, meanwhile, revealed a large amount of guns and ammunition as well as a roomful of Nazi paraphernalia, leading authorities to believe that Pallis may also have links to the far-right Golden Dawn party.

The searches were conducted after a retired British military officer, Edward Pringle-Stacey, wrote via his lawyer to the Supreme Court to provide information that he thought may be useful for authorities in their search for weapons that Golden Dawn, which is currently under investigation for criminal activities, could be hiding.

Pringle-Stacey alleged that in 2011, when he was working with Pallis, an ex-associate of shipowner Restis, he saw a collection of about 4,000 firearms at premises owned by Pallis. According to the British witness, the weapons included AK-47 and M16 assault rifles.

Pringle-Stacey filed charges of abduction and attempted blackmail against Pallis in September, claiming he was held against his will at Athens International Airport by three men that were working for Pallis, who tried to get him to sign a document while he was there.

Restis is currently in custody for alleged embezzlement at First Business Bank, where he was the main shareholder.

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