Lavrentiadis faces fresh felony charges

Businessman Lavrentis Lavrentiadis, the former major stakeholder in Proton Bank, is facing new felony charges in a case involving the sale of Neochimiki, a chemicals distributor, in a deal valued at 700 million euros, it emerged Friday.

Neochimiki was sold to the US-based Carlyle Group in 2008. The US group subsequently demanded that Lavrentiadis buy back the company after it was allegedly discovered that its true financial figures were different from the ones made known to the buyers.

Lavrentiadis recently posted 500,000 euros in bail and was released from custody to await trial over charges of running a criminal organization and money-laundering in connection with alleged embezzlement at Proton Bank.