Akis Tsochatzopoulos
Apostolos - Athanasios " Akis " Tsochatzopoulos (Greek Απόστολος - Αθανάσιος " Άκης " Τσοχατζόπουλος, born July 31, 1939 in Athens ) is a Greek politician. He was several times minister.
Life
Tsochatzopoulos grew up in Thessaloniki in simple ratios. He studied civil engineering in Munich and graduated with the titles degree in engineering and industrial engineering graduate from. He then began a 16 -year-old working as a civil engineer in Munich and Athens, mainly in the field of public works. From exile Tsochatzopoulos supported the resistance movement against the Greek military dictatorship. In 1969 he was deprived of his citizenship by the military Junta. He was a member of the PAK ( Panhellenic Liberation Movement ) and has been since 1972 a member of the National Council. After the fall of the junta in 1974, he returned to Greece.
In 1974 he became a founding member of PASOK and since then until April 2011 continuously Bureau member. Since November 1990, he was General Secretary of PASOK. From 1981, he held several ministerial positions in various governments.
He was from 1981 to 2009 Member of the Greek Parliament and led various ministries.
- Minister of Public Works (1981-1985)
- Minister to the Prime Minister (1985-1987)
- Minister of the Interior (1987-1989)
- Minister of Transport and Communications (1989-1990, in the coalition government )
- Minister of the Interior (1993-1995)
- Minister of Defence (1996-2001)
- Minister of Development (2001-2004)
In 1996, he competed with Konstantinos Simitis for the succession of Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, but lost almost at the internal party election.
Legal proceedings
A Real Estate Business Tsochatzopoulos ' was since 2010 the subject of prosecutorial investigations and an examination of the "Transparency Committee " ( disciplinary committee) of PASOK: The ex-minister and his wife had a few days before the entry into force of a tax law change a plot at the foot of the Acropolis for a million euros of bought an " offshore" company and that company made possible by a substantial tax savings. On 11 April 2011 the Bureau decided his expulsion from the party.
A committee of parliament in Athens also looked at allegations of bribery against Tsochatzopoulos in connection with a purchase of German submarines as substantiated. The Greek parliament determined on the basis of information that has been submitted to the Athens prosecutor from colleagues in Munich. Greece had bought in 2000, four U- boats of the type 214 with a value of 2.85 billion euros in Germany. According to the investigation by the German authorities, the former MAN Ferrostaal daughter to have paid bribes in the millions. Tsochatzopoulos said on television, the accusations were false; the judiciary will resolve the case. In June 2011, his immunity for the past legislative session was canceled. On April 11, 2012, he was arrested on suspicion of corruption and sent after interrogation on account of suspected and the risk of flight and new offenses on April 16 in the prison of Korydallos.
The Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office dropped a credit Tsochatzopoulos ' of 10 million Swiss francs in a bank in Switzerland lock on suspicion of money laundering.
On March 4, 2013 Tsochatzopoulos was sentenced to eight years in prison and a fine of 520,000 euros for tax evasion, confiscated his property.
On 22 April 2013, a further criminal trial in which Tsochatzopoulos must answer allegations of bribery, money laundering and criminal conspiracy with his daughter, his ex-wife and 16 other defendants began. According to the indictment, are for the purchase of submarines, missile defense systems and other weapon systems in Germany and Russia flowed bribes totaling 160 million euros, which were laundered through off-shore companies and the purchase or renovation of real estate. On October 7, 2013 he was sentenced by the criminal court in Athens for corruption and money laundering to 20 years in prison; its real estate assets were confiscated.