By Maria Spiliopoulou

ATHENS, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- An alleged corruption case involving Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis and former high-level Greek officials was formally tabled to the Greek parliament on Tuesday, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

The allegations of corruption and bribery, which are being investigated, can be traced back between 2006-2015, according to AMNA.

The house plenum was informed that two former prime ministers and eight former ministers of past conservative-led, socialist-led and care-taker governments were named in the case.

Under Greek legislation when names of ministers appear in judicial probes, the files must be sent to parliament, regardless of whether there is any wrongdoing.

The Deputy Speaker Tasia Christodoulopoulou said the content will not be made public, but will be accessed by party representatives and other interested parties in a designated space in parliament.

Speaking to Greek national broadcaster ERT after briefing Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on the case, Deputy Justice Minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos said that it was "the largest scandal since the establishment of the Greek state."

Some 50 million euros (62 million US dollars) had been given as kickbacks by the pharmaceutical company to politicians, public officials and doctors among others in exchange of price fixing, prosecution sources told AMNA.

Investigators have calculated that the total damage incurred by the state as a result of the illegal practices of pharmaceutical companies after 2000 is around 23 billion euros, while the damage specifically involving Novartis amounts to 3 billion euros, AMNA reported.

All politicians named denied any involvement in the case. Some, as well as the main opposition conservative New Democracy party, accused the government of interfering with justice. Others talked about a slander campaign and announced their intention to refer to justice.

Former prime minister Antonis Samaras (2012-2015) announced on Wednesday that he would submit a lawsuit to the Supreme Court against Tsipras and Panangelopoulos.

Former caretaker prime minister Panayotis Pikramenos also issued a statement, saying he has no connection to the case.

Yannis Stournaras, current central banker and former finance minister (2012-2014), said he had never signed any decisions related to Novartis, adding that he has been targeted over the past three years.

Former deputy prime minister and finance minister Evangelos Venizelos (2011-2015) talked about a "barbaric assault on institutions."

Under the Greek law, time has lapsed for charges of accepting bribes and breach of faith, therefore prosecutor are focusing the investigation on money laundering, on which time limitations do not apply.

Lawmakers will now have to decide whether special investigating committees should be set up and eventually whether to lift the immunity of the politicians so that they can face prosecution. (1 euro= 1.23 U.S. dollars) Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)