Four years ago, in 2014, Greek Coast Guards seized what is believed to be a record haul of 2.1 tonnes of heroin from a small tanker, Noor 1, and a warehouse near Athens. The criminal investigation which followed has resulted in 15 people going to prison. However, that may not be the end of the matter.
Last Friday, prosecutor Erini Tziva levelled what are described as “very serious charges” against Greek tycoon, Evangelos Marinakis, owner of Olympiakos FC and English Championship League club Nottingham Forest.
According to reports in Reuters, an anonymous judiciary source said, the charges against Marinakis followed a preliminary investigation into the financial transfers related to the financing of the tanker.
According to the judiciary source, following these preliminary charges against Marinakis, prosecutor Tziva has ordered a further investigation by a magistrate specializing in corruption.
A day after the charges, Marinakis immediately launched a robust defence issuing statements in both his own, Ta Nea newspaper and Olympiakos’s club website. In the statement he denies any involvement in the matters raised, declaring his innocence and alleging that the accusations are a result of a deliberate plot, “a dirty plan”,against him. He accuses the government of exploiting and manipulating the media to influence and bring about judicial developments.
Marinakis said in the statements:
“The recent judicial action is a deliberate attempt at character assassination. The allegations are fabricated and without any foundation in law or fact. It is a deliberate plot that has long been in the making and as such it is not only offensive, but quite simply criminal … I have never had anything whatsoever to do with the acts for which an investigative inquiry is apparently set to be restarted. It is clear to me that the results of any new investigation will confirm my innocence.”
Protesting against me is a product of schism and it has nothing to do with the truth. The plan has long been revealed. And it’s not just a draft provocative and repulsive, but literally criminal. The rule of law is being abolished and democracy is undermined. I have never had anything to do with the acts for which an investigative inquiry is to be conducted, the result of which I am absolutely certain to be the confirmation of my innocence. There is not the least evidence to me and the action against me is arbitrary.”
“For a long time, members of the co-government have persistently targeted and steadily prompted their actions. In an ordered service against me, they manipulate and use certain journalistic networks and journalists with a heavy “register” to induce or blackmail judicial developments.
I have no doubt that it will soon be revealed to the Greek citizens who are the architects of the miserable squabble: The co-governors of the most dangerous government that the place has known in order to disorient the Greek people from the deadlocks they have led them, in the hope to silence each independent voice.
“I will not compromise, I will not capitulate, nor will I succumb to their dirty plan.”
According to Greek media, the Greek government has declined to comment on the case or respond to Marinakis’s statement. Nor have court authorities made any public announcements on the matter.
The BBC which also reported on the charges said that both Nottingham Forest and the English Football League had declined to comment on the matter.
In better news for the Greek tycoon, the Greek Supreme court announced on Monday , that it was dismissing all charges against Marinakis relating to match-fixing and the creation of a criminal gang operating within the sport in Greece. In response to the announcement Marinakis responded in another statement, “My integrity has been unequivocally ascertained by the Greek Supreme Court. The decision of the Greek Supreme Court confirmed that the allegations against me were unfounded and do not merit even for a court hearing.”
