Suspicious money transfers were detected, amounting to approximately 10 million euros for one individual and around 17 million euros for the other.

The asset freeze was ordered based on the conclusion that the funds these individuals received from U.S. authorities were related to their depositions and that they did not meet the protection criteria due to financial motivation.

This action initiates a new criminal investigation against the two for the felony of money laundering.

At the same time, assets of 12 other individuals, who allegedly received money from the payments made to the two former witnesses, have also been frozen. The Authority has requested that these individuals be investigated for complicity in money laundering.

Charalampos Vourliotis, former Deputy Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, has seized all assets within Greece and in Swiss bank accounts connected to the two former protected witnesses, Filistor Destempasidis (code-named “Maximos Sarafis“) and Maria Marangeli (code-named “Aikaterini Kelesi”). He determined that the money they received from U.S. authorities regarding the Novartis case was connected to their depositions given to the Greek judiciary, and that at the time they were placed under witness protection, they did not fulfill the necessary conditions due to financial incentives.

It is recalled that these two former protected witnesses are currently on trial at a second-instance court for false testimony. They were previously sentenced in the first instance to suspended prison terms of 25 to 33 months.

The seizure order has already been forwarded to Greek and Swiss banks, and based on this order, the assets (bank accounts, safe deposit boxes, shares, real estate, etc.) of these two individuals remain temporarily frozen.

Moreover, Vourliotis’s action signals a new criminal investigation since he prepared a report sent to the Athens Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the felony of money laundering against the two former witnesses, who were implicated in the Novartis case involving ten political figures based on their depositions.

Simultaneously, assets of 12 other individuals, who allegedly received funds from the payments made to the two defendants without any justification, have also been frozen. The Authority has requested their investigation for criminal complicity in money laundering.

The Authority concluded that the depositions of the two, both in Greece and abroad, had a common denominator of financial motivation. Further investigation mapped the flow of money, which is considered by the Authority to be the proceeds of criminal activity.

It was found that the funds collected were transferred to a Swiss bank. The suspicious amount identified is approximately 10 million euros for one and about 17 million euros for the other.

Tracing the money flow also revealed 12 other individuals who received various sums ranging from 30,000 to 500,000 euros without clear reasons for these deposits.