Corruption prosecutor Gavriil Maillis called 13 German officials of German-based Atlas and Rheinmetall AG on Thursday, to provide testimonies related to an armaments kickbacks case of submarines and antiaircraft missiles. The kickbacks were linked to the submarine Integrated Sensor Underwater Systems and the purchase of ASRAD antiaircraft missiles. The 13 were called to appear in December to testify over charges of bribery and money laundering in payments made on behalf of the Greek National Defense Ministry. They were called based on facts drawn from German court files and bank accounts owned by two people already charged in the case, Panagiotis Efstathiou (former representative of Atlas) and Antonis Kantas (former Deputy Director of the Ministry’s procurements department). In the following days, Maillis is expected to call at least another 10 officers from both companies. According to the case file, illegal transactions from both companies involved at least 38 million euros in total, with assessments placing the total of these kickbacks to nearly 60 million euros, some of which could be traced to bank accounts of officers from both companies. In Greece, 35 Greek nationals have already testified and the Judicial Council will decide who will be tried. The Greek state is demanding from the German companies compensation for moral damages totalling 13 million euros, reserving the right to raise the amount in the future. (source: ana-mpa)
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