Two former protected witnesses in the lengthy, controversial and ultimately futile Novartis Greece investigation, mostly conducted by the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office prior to 2019, have been summoned as suspects to provide statements over alleged offenses related to the case.
Both individuals, F.D. and M.M., have been named and identified as former high-ranking staff-members of Novartis’ subsidiary in Greece.
The summons to provide statements before a relevant prosecutor comes after several previous lawsuits filed by politicians and office-holders against the pair were retrieved and reassessed as having merit. The two former protected witnesses had implicated 10 politicians and office-holders in bribe-taking and kickbacks paid by Novartis’ subsidiary over several months of testimony to Eleni Touloupaki, the previous head of the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office, and her associate prosecutors.
In the end, Touloupaki failed to file even one indictment that contained corroborating evidence of even indications of guilt against the 10, which included former prime ministers and past health ministers.
The opposition at the time, especially New Democracy (ND) party, had dubbed the Touloupaki investigation into the Novartis kickbacks case as a “judicial conspiracy” aimed to sully the reputation of political rivals of the then SYRIZA-ANEL coalition government in power at the time (2015-2019).
The two former protected witnesses, which now face a bevy of libel lawsuits and a prosecutor’s investigation, will be summoned to provide statements regarding the alleged offences of providing false testimony and statements.
Among the prominent political figures who have sought recourse with the courts over the case are ex-PM Antonis Samaras, current Bank of Greece (BoG) Gov. Yannis Stournaras, incumbent Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis and former PASOK minister Andreas Loverdos, among others.
Any decision on whether formal charges will be filed comes after their statements to an investigating prosecutor.
A similar investigation in the United States yielded a massive fine against the Swiss multinational for, among others, bribing state hospital physicians and administrators in Greece.
