Chiefs of funds are implicated
The heads of the pension funds that purchases a controversial 280-million-euro Greek government bond knew that the note had been traded between financial institutions at a discounted rate before they bought it at near face value, an investigation has allegedly found. The results of the probe by Giorgos Zorbas, the head of the committee formed to combat money laundering, were submitted on Friday to Athens prosecutor Panayiotis Poulios. Details have not been made public but sources told Sunday’s Kathimerini it suggests the heads of the pension could face prosecution for their involvement. The bond was eventually bought back by US bank JP Morgan after an outcry over what was seen as an unfair deal for the pension funds. PASOK called yesterday for the details of Zorbas’s probe to be given to Parliament and made public. «This report has been much awaited and highly publicized by the government and cannot remain shut in a prosecutor’s drawer in the name of confidentiality,» said PASOK secretary Nikos Athanassakis.
