The courts have ordered an investigation at bank accounts held at Ethniki Bank in 1998 after the testimony of witness Grigoris Mourgelas and the mystery surrounding the origin of the money used by the Bluebell offshore to purchase a luxury apartment on Deinokratous street in Athens.
Mr. Tsohatzopoulos’ cousin and former confident Nikolaos Zigras claimed he never paid money into the bank account of Mr. Mourgelas, who was the acting lawyer in the purchase.
Mourgelas noted that the funds were paid in foreign currency, which was exchanged for checks worth 98 million drachmas. The lawyer claims that Zigras approached him as an expatriated businessman based in Germany and that he was aware of his family relationship to Mr. Tsohatzopoulos.
Zigras intervened in the testimony, arguing that Mourgelas had a close friendship and regular face-to-face contacts with the former National Defense Minister, whom he advised on creating the offshore for the purchase of the apartment on Deinokratous.
The courts will resume the trial on Tuesday.
