Stock bubble probed again
A new investigation into the alleged manipulation of stocks during the bubble on the Athens Stock Exchange between 1999 and 2000 has been launched by prosecutors, sources told Kathimerini yesterday. The Special Inspections Service (SIS) has been asked to check, sources said, the bank accounts of a number of businesspeople and associates for signs of possible money laundering, which is a criminal offense. Sources also indicated that a magistrate has been asked to specifically probe the bank accounts of businessman Constantinos Stegos and his daughter. Three members of the Stegos family, which owns the Olympic Technodomiki construction company, were given three-year jail terms last year for tricking stock market investors. Thousands of small investors lost money when the value of stocks dipped sharply from 1999. Ex-judge Constantina Bourboulia led a probe into the alleged manipulation of shares behind the bubble. She was later given a suspended jail sentence for mishandling the probe. A French court is due to decide tomorrow if Bourboulia can be extradited to Greece to face questioning over an alleged trial-fixing ring after she was arrested in Paris, having apparently fled Greece. Her return is also likely to shed more light on outstanding queries about share dealings and authorities are keen to speak to her in connection with the information she uncovered during her probe.
