About Akis Tsochatzopoulos: Greek politician and former minister (1939-)
Apostolos Tsochatzopoulosusually known in the small form Akis (Greek: Άκης Τσοχατζόπουλος; born 31 July 1939 in Thessaloniki) is a former Greek politician who served as a minister in various Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) cabinets from 1981 to 2004.
Akis Tsochatzopoulos is a founding member of PASOK. He was first elected to the Greek Parliament in 1981 and remained in office until 2007. On July 1, 2011, the Greek parliament voted in favour of the charges against him amid allegations of corruption scandals. He was subsequently convicted on October 7, 2013.
ministerial posts
Vladimir Putin meets with Defense Minister Akis Zohazopoulos, July 7, 2000
Tsochatzopoulos has held the following ministerial positions during his career:
- Minister of Public Works (1981–1985)
- Minister in the Presidency of the Government (1985–1987)
- Minister of the Interior (1987–1989)
- Minister of Transport and Communications (1989-1990) (Coalition Government)
- Minister of the Interior (1993–1995)
- Minister of Defense (1996–2001)
- Minister of Development (2001-2004)
corruption scandal
His wedding in Paris in 2004 and a subsequent reception to see the Eiffel Tower at the Four Seasons Hotel were heavily criticized by the press and in Greek politics.
30 May 2010, Greek newspaper I’m Catimerini and Archetype theme have announced their discovery that Akis Tsochatzopoulos’ wife Vicky Stamati bought a house for €1 million from an offshore company on Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, one of Athens’ most prestigious neighbourhoods, just after a series of parliamentary approvals The austerity measures were aimed at raising taxes and combating tax evasion a few days ago. At the time, Akis Tsochatzopoulos had threatened to go to court, but on June 7, the committee in charge of the case demanded that Tsochatzopoulos be removed from his partisan privileges because of evidence against him.
In early 2011, following an investigation by a special committee of the Greek parliament, there was evidence that Tsochatzopoulos was also involved in the Siemens scandal. Among other things, the committee’s statement included: “It is examining the activities of Mr. Tsochatzopoulos during his tenure as Minister of Defense from 1996 to 2001. The committee will command and manage the Siemens defense system under his leadership for the MIM-104 Patriot system” Black “money people”.
On March 31, 2011, a parliamentary committee decided to examine the assets of Tsochatzopoulos, as well as that of NDP politician George Alogoskoufis and another former minister of the same party, finding deposits of up to 178 million euros in their accounts. The purpose of the investigation into Tsochatzopoulos’ assets was to verify that his tax returns were genuine or that any other irregularities had occurred.
New evidence emerged in April 2011 linking Tsochatzopoulos to two previous scandals, this time with the German company Ferrostaal over the purchase of German submarines.According to newspaper reports real news, Tsochatzopoulos received thanks from the German representative for being selected to buy before signing the deal. Tsochatzopoulos has threatened to take the front page of the newspaper to court, which he considers “insulting” and defamatory. In mid-April, the PASOK parliamentary group decided to set up a committee to investigate the submarine scandal. Tsochatzopoulos accused the parliamentary group of aligning with the opposition and of taking wrong actions against him. A few days later, he petitioned Areios Pagos, the Greek Supreme Court, to expedite the process of investigating his assets. On April 11, 2011, George Papandreou’s government decided to expel him from the party.
Parliament voted on April 28 to set up a committee to determine whether Tsochatzopoulos was responsible for the criminal purchase of the German Type 214 submarine, by an overwhelming 226 out of 300 votes. About a month later, on May 26, the findings of a committee investigating Tsochatzopoulos’ assets were released; they found that Tsochatzopoulos lied about the value of his house, which was higher than his tax filings stated.
On June 6, 2011, the decision of the committee on the purchase of German submarines was handed over to the President of the Greek Parliament. The committee recommends criminal charges against Tsochatzopoulos for attempting to pass off illegally obtained money as legitimate. On the same day, he gave an interview to Greek TV channel Skai, denying all the allegations and saying they were a conspiracy against him.
On 1 July 2011, the committee’s recommendation to bring charges against Tsochatzopoulos was passed in the parliament by a majority of 216 out of 300 seats. On April 11, 2012, he was arrested on money laundering charges.
On Monday, October 7, 2013, he was found “guilty on all charges”. The next day, he was sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison. Tsochatzopoulos was transferred to Korydallos prison in October 2013. Tsochatzopoulos suffers from various health problems and recently underwent heart surgery. After five years in prison, he was released in July 2018 due to serious health problems.
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