Prominent justice reporter Ioanna Mandrou complained in a shocking denouncement on Friday about “an organized disinformation plan to court editors” regarding the impeachment of former SYRIZA deputy Justice Minister and the prosecutor who had investigated the Novartis scandal in Greece. “With an unanimous decision, ex deputy Justice Minister Dimitris Papaggelopoulos …
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Greek state sues big pharma Novartis for 214 million euros
The Greek state is suing Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical giant Novartis for 214 million euros, Health Minister Thanos Plevris announced on Friday. In a statement, Plevris said the state is seeking compensation for the non-pecuniary damage it has suffered “from the actions that Novartis itself has admitted to in the USA …
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Novartis scandal: Greek translation distorts FBI document, omits ex minister’s name
“No one can give a logical answer as to why my name was deleted from the translation of the FBI Novartis document,” PASOK-KINAL MP and former Health Minister Andreas Loverdos told Skai TV on Friday morning. It was one more of Loverdos’ statements after documentonews newspaper and koutipandoras website published …
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Greek State sues Novartis, claiming compensation for illegal practices
The Greek State will sue big pharmaceutical corporation Novartis, claiming compensation for illegal practices, Health Minister Thanos Plevris announced on Friday. In a statement Minister Plevris said: “Implementing our government commitment to claim compensation from the company Novartis for all illegal practices and according to the minutes of the NSC, …
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Greek politicians request lifting status of protected witnesses on Novartis scandal
Six Greek politicians have submitted a request to judicial authorities to remove the whistleblowers’ identity protection who have implicated them into the Novartis scandal. The request was submitted to the judicial council of the Special Court on Thursday. The whistleblowers, “code-named ‘Kelesi’ and ‘Maximos Sarafis‘ had alleged that the high-profile …
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Greek Parliament charged ex SYRIZA minister over Novartis probe
Greek Parliament voted late on Wednesday to charge former SYRIZA Alternate Justice Minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos over allegations that he sought to incriminate political opponents in the purported Novartis pharmaceutical bribery scandal. 117 MPs from ruling New Democracy and opposition KINAL/PASOK voted to bring charges against Papangelopoulos that include breach of …
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Greece prosecutes the prosecutor investigating Novartis bribery scandal
The head of Athens Prosecutor’s Office ordered the criminal prosecution of the leading corruption prosecutor Eleni Touloupaki for a series of offenses, including abuse of power. Touloupaki was been investigating the Novartis bribery scandal. The corruption prosecutors will face charges of dereliction of duty, making false statements and breach of …
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Novartis investigation: FBI documents submitted to Greece’s Parliament
Documents of the American justifiable authorities and the FBI that investigated Swiss pharmaceutical company NOVARITS were submitted by the Deputy Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Ioannis Aggelis, to the president and the members of the special parliamentary committee for preliminary examination. The documents had been requested by the special committee, …
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Bench warrants against “protected witnesses,” Gov’t eager to have their anonymity lifted
For a second consecutive day, the members of the Special Parliamentary Committee in charge to conduct preliminary examination on the Novartis bribery scandal were waiting for one of the protected witnesses to testify in Police Headquarters in Athens. They waited in vain. Protected witness under the code name “Ekaterini Kelesi” …
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Novartis scandal: Felony charges ordered against ex Health Minister
Greece’s top corruption prosecutor ordered bribery charges against Movement for Change (KINAL) MP and former Health Minister, Andreas Loverdos. The charges part of the ongoing investigation into the alleged bribery scandal involving Swiss drugmaker Novartis. The felony charge follows a request submitted by the public prosecutor in August for Parliament …
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Parliament approves probe into ex SYRIZA minister over Novartis handling
The Greek Parliament approved the proposal of New Democracy to set up a special investigation committee to probe former Alternate Justice Minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos (SYRIZA). The committee will probe into Papangelopoulos’ possible involvement in crimes related with the Novartis case. The former SYRIZA minister has been accused of interfering and …
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Parliament lifts immunity of MP Loverdos over Novartis
The Plenary of the Greek Parliament lifted the immunity of MP Andreas Loverdos over the Novartis case. Out of 225 lawmakers present, 224 voted in favor and one against. The MP from KINAL/PASOK had himself requested the lifting of his immunity. Convinced that he is victim of a plot against …
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EX PASOK Minister files lawsuits against prosecutors investigating Novartis
Former PASOK Minister and current KINAL MP, Andreas Loverdos, has filed lawsuits against the Supreme Court prosecutors investigating the Novartis bribery scandal. Early Monday morning, Loverdos filed the lawsuits against Corruption Prosecutor, Eleni Touloupaki, and two assistant prosecutors over their handling of the Novartis case. He accuses the judicial official …
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Novartis scandal: Prosecutor drops probe into BoG governor Stournaras
A prosecutor dropped the probe into governor of the Bank of Greece, Yannis Stournaras, after finding no evidence linking him to claims by the former government in connection with the Novartis bribes scandal. The shelving Thursday of a legal suit against him involving Swiss drugmaker Novartis, officially ended a “brazen …
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Novartis-Gate: Prosecutors request lifting of immunity of ex Health Minister Loverdos
The case file for lifting the parliamentary immunity of MP and former PASOK Health Minister Andreas Loverdos is been submitting to the Greek Parliament. Lifting the immunity will facilitate prosecutors investigating the Novartis scandal to call Loverdos to testify. According to media, Loverdos is suspect of having received bribes. The …
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Novartis internal probe Finds no trace of payoffs to Greek Officials
Swiss Pharmaceutics conglomerate Novartis AG said that its own internal investigation found no evidence of bribery to Greek state officials, Bloomberg reports on Wednesday. Novartis didn’t receive preferential pricing from the Greek state and to date has been unable to identify any “inappropriate payments” to government officials, a local spokesperson …
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Transparency International Greece and the Novartis donation
In 2013, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis donated $3,400 to the anti-corruption group Transparency International Greece. Novartis has been embroiled in a corruption scandal in Greece, accused of paying bribes to top public officials and the corruption scandal will likely be a key issue in the upcoming elections in October. …
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Greek parliament passes Novartis pharma probe over to judiciary
Greece’s parliament has no jurisdiction to investigate the role of ten politicians in alleged bribes by Swiss drugmaker Novartis, lawmakers ruled late on Friday night when they voted in favor to hand investigation over to judiciary. The majority of the lawmakers mostly SYRIZA-ANEL that were present in the parliament, 168 …
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Greek Parliament halts Novartis probe, send case file back to Justice
The Greek Parliament has halted probe into Novartis bribes case in which ten politicians are allegedly involved. The Parliamentary investigation committee consisting of coalition government lawmakers decided that the Parliament does not have the jurisdiction to investigate the money laundering and bribery claims. The case file was sent back to …
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Bank of Greece governor Stournaras sues witnesses in Novartis bribery probe
Greece’s central bank governor on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against two witnesses who reportedly claimed he was among several senior politicians who received illicit perks from embattled Swiss pharma giant Novartis. Yannis Stournaras’ office said in a statement the two protected witnesses, known only under their aliases, should be punished for …
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