Tag: Yannis Stournaras

Komninos is not one of the 10 senior politicians under investigation, but his name does appear in one of the anonymous testimonies — obtained by POLITICO — where he is accused of accepting a bribe from Novartis in the form of “bundles of cash wrapped in orange tapes.” In an interview, he denied the allegation and said he worked to lower drug prices while in office. The testimonies, which were given under oath, contain several other similar tales of government officials receiving bribes in the form of bundles of cash. Novartis declined to comment on the allegations made in the anonymous Greek testimonies and the FBI report. We believe this is highly inappropriate and will defend our people and company against these claims.” The FBI declined to comment on its report and referred questions to the U.S. Embassy in Athens, which also declined to comment. Countersuits Maria Spyraki, a member of the European Parliament and spokesperson for the opposition New Democracy party, said that nothing in the documents released by Greek investigators so far provides hard evidence of any wrongdoing by senior politicians in Greece. “But the witnesses are not enough.” She added that the Greek parliament committee investigating Novartis had found no specific evidence incriminating any public official in Greece. In January, New Democracy also filed official questions to the minister of justice, Stavros Kontonis, asking him to explain how he plans to shelter the Greek judiciary from political influence amid allegations that those who have been accused are personalities that the ruling Syriza party would like to see tarnished. Stefanos Komninos, the former secretary-general of the ministry of economy, shipping and competitiveness, is accused in one witness statement of having kept the price of a box Galvus, a type 2 diabetes drug, at €300 instead of €150. A spokesperson for Touloupaki told POLITICO that her office is still conducting preliminary investigations into allegations that Novartis bribed public officials in Greece. Touloupaki’s office is also collaborating with anti-laundering officials in several EU countries to gather evidence of bribes being laundered out of the country, the two officials in Touloupaki’s office said.