Antonis Kandas, deputy director of the Defense Ministry’s Department of Procurement at the time when Akis Tsochatzopoulos was minister of defense, is due to appear in court today having been arrested on charges of money laundering and accepting bribes worth millions over the procurement of electronic systems from the company ATLAS for four submarines purchased by the Greek state. The arrest came after a warrant was issued by the special investigating magistrate Gabriel Mallis.
Background
The submarine scandal relates to the purchase of four submarines from the German companies HDW and FERROSTAAL in a deal signed 13 years ago. The former Minister of Defense, Akis Tsochatzopoulos who oversaw the purchase has been convicted of money laundering over the case and is currently imprisoned having received the maximum 20 year sentence.
According to documents examined by authorities regarding the money laundering, a Singapore bank account was found with $13.7 million which had been moved through two offshore companies controlled by Mr Kandas.
In the charges filed against him Mr Kandas is said to have colluded with two Germans involved in the the case, Hans-Peter Muehlenbeck and Johann Friedrich Haun, both former directors of Ferostaal who have previously admitted paying bribes to greek officials. Also implicated is the former shipyard head Sotiris Emmanouil. Mr Kandas is suspected of receiving bribes worth many millions of euros.
It is the second time that Mr Kandas has been arrested on charges of corruption, as he is already facing charges that he accepted €500,000 from an unknown Siemens employee. The money in question was transferred to Swiss bank account controlled by Mr Kandas from the offshore company MARTHA HOLDINGS, a shell company that has been linked to Siemens’s “black funds,” and is allegedly a bribe for the awarding of contracts regarding the supply of telecommunications hardware to the military. He was released pending trial in that case with bail posted at €500,000.