Post date: Apr 17, 2012 11:12:56 AM
ATHENS, GREECE (APRIL 17, 2012) (REUTERS) - Greece's former defence minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos was jailed on Tuesday (April 17), pending trial on money laundering charges in the most high-profile case against a politician in decades of corruption scandals.
Greece jails a former defence minister, pending his trial on money laundering charges.
A Greek prosecutor decided on Monday (April 16) to jail Tsohatzopoulos who he has been detained at police headquarters since his April 11 arrest.
Corruption and cronyism are endemic in Greece, but no politician has been tried or convicted in recent years, something that has fuelled popular frustration with established parties ahead of a general election on May 6.
Tsohatzopoulos, who has held various portfolios including defence since the 1980s, faces felony charges in relation to property deals and possible tax violations.
Greek authorities have stepped up arrests of tax dodgers and offenders lately in an attempt to win popular backing for painful austerity measures that form the backbone of the debt-crippled country's EU/IMF bailout.
The 72-year-old Tsohatzopoulos, who last served as minister in 2004, is the only prominent politician to be arrested so far.
Tsohatzopoulos nearly became prime minister in 1996 only to be narrowly defeated in an internal party vote to become chairman of the then ruling Socialist PASOK party.
Since quitting politics in 2009, he has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in a string of affairs investigated by court prosecutors, including the use of offshore companies to buy a luxurious mansion in Athens and the sale of German submarines to Greece.
In 2011, PASOK expelled Tsohatzopoulos after lawmakers asked that he be indicted in connection with the submarine procurement deal with German firm Ferrostaal.