Karatzaferis indicted over false 'pothen esches' declarations

The leader of the right-wing LAOS party, Giorgos Karatzaferis, was indicted on Thursday on charges of making inaccurate declarations of assets (?pothen esches?) for three years and for involvement in an offshore firm, which is prohibited for politicians.

According to a ruling issued on Thursday by a council of misdemeanor court judges, Karatzaferis will stand trial over alleged inaccuracies in his pothen esches declarations in 2010, 2011 and 2012 as he failed to declare 6.6 million dollars that was found in a bank account in the name of the offshore firm to which he has been linked.

Also not mentioned on his pothen esches forms, according to investigators, is 1.65 million euros he is said to have received in three bank transfers from a company that has been implicated in state defense procurement deals.

The leader of the party that served as the junior partner in a previous coalition government in 2011 and 2012 is also said to have failed to declare an apartment in Brussels.

According to sources, Karatzaferis originally faced criminal charges but they were reduced to misdemeanors after judicial officials deemed that he did not exploit his political position for personal gain.