W-O-W! Former Greek Defence Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos had a suitcase full of bribes money. Kickbacks from a state contract. Allegedly the suitcase contained 80 million Drachmas – 235,000 euro. That so claimed by the ex-minister’s first cousin and former confidant Nikos Zigras.
According to daily Ethnos, key prosecution witness Zigras siad in his testimony conveyed to the court by his lawyer:
“Tsochatzopoulos opened the suitcase and Zigras saw that it contained 80 million drachmas in cash.”
The trial of ex minister Tsochatzopoulos on money-laundering is a complicated one with several offshore companies, bank accounts here and there, cash money written to the names of relatives and relatives of relatives and lots of cash in suitcases.
Kathimerini writes that “this special suitcase was given for the purchase of a house in expensive district of Athens, Kolonaki, for Tsochatzopoulos daughter”. And other juicy details about dragons and monsters.
But I am interested in one thing: what is the volume of a suitcase containing 80,000,000 drachmas? I suppose the money was delivered in 5,000-drachma banknotes and not in 100-drachma banknotes.
80,000,000 : 5,000 = 16,000 banknotes (unless my calculator was wrong)
So my very serious question is: what is the volume of 16,000 banknotes?
Check this link out:
http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/index.html
its about dollars, but I guess it gives an indication. 🙂
Compare with a million dollars, which is 10 000 hundred dollars bills
hahaha! excellent! thanks.
Yes, it sounds like a lot of notes, but according to Andreas’s link, it would fit in a briefcase, even as used notes. Quite surprising. Think how small a package it would be if it was €500 notes! €235,000 is a mere 470 notes. That would slip into your jacket pocket and not even make a bulge. I’ll have to remember to specify €500 notes next time I pick up a large bribe…:)
logical. but as it was on drachmas bank notes a suitcase was needed. I suppose in the size that it can be carried inside the airplane cabin.