‘Crash’ witness jailed for fraud
One of the two people who claimed to have at least partially witnessed the mystery motorcycle crash disgraced sprinters Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou say prevented them from undergoing doping tests two weeks ago was jailed yesterday for fraud. Meletis Zographos, 26, failed to persuade an Athens court to overturn an outstanding conviction he had been handed in absentia for falsely presenting himself as a lawyer. Zographos was offered the option of buying off the 14-month sentence for a total of 5,000 euros, but was unable to come up with the sum and ended up in jail. The man told traffic police after the accident, which allegedly took place early on August 13, he saw the two sprinters lying hurt on the tarmac, and returned the motorbike to its owner, the athletes’ coach, Christos Tzekos. Police did not check Zographos’s credentials when he testified about the accident. Police and judiciary officials are understood to give no credence to the crash claim.
