Former Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou and his wife Stavroula Kourakou were given an extension to prepare their testimony on charges of money laundering, by a court in Athens on Thursday.
Both appeared at the investigator’s office with their solicitor, Aris Charalambakis, and were granted a postponement until October 22.
Papantoniou has denied all allegations, and instead of making statements on Thursday referred the press to a statement he released last week. In it, he said, “ The absolute absence of any data on illegal operations has brought my persecutors to a complete impasse. For this reason, they have invented an unprecedented story, trying to link withdrawals in cash by a representative of armaments – who is now deceased – from his own accounts in Greek banks with cash deposits by a friend of mine in his own accounts in Greece, without any real connection between them – neither electronic transfers, nor personal contacts, not even communication or personal acquaintance. And, of course, I have no connection to nor am I acquainted with the said respresentative. Some ‘magical hand’ appears to link one’s cash with that of the other.”
Source: AMNA