The former deputy director of armaments at the Ministry of National Defense Antonis Kantas was prosecuted on bribery and money laundry charges, for receiving a 250,000 euro bribe from a retired military officer, by his own admission.
The retired officer, Christos Toumpas, was a representative for the Brazilian Embraer company, from which the Greek Ministry of National Defense bought a radar system, which was to be installed in the Embraer 145 aircraft. The deal cost 400 million euros and was contracted to Swiss telecommunications company Ericsson.
During questioning, Mr. Kantas revealed that Mr. Toumpas told him that “if this program went ahead he would not forget about him”. Mr. Toumpas allegedly deposited 150,000 euros in a Geneva account and a further 100,000 euros in another.
The Swiss prosecutors were interested in the implication of Ericsson and have requested a cop of the related evidence from their Greek judicial colleagues, in order to initiate proceedings in Sweden.
