State recoups 4.3 million euros from defense deal kickback

The Greek state has recouped 4.3 million euros that was pocketed by a businessman alleged to have taken kickbacks from a defense procurement deal, Justice Minister Stavros Kontonis revealed on Friday.

The money was returned by the entrepreneur Giorgos Kamaris - who has been linked to various defense deals - to secure more lenient treatment by the Greek authorities, Kontonis indicated, without referring to the money laundering suspect by name.

"The sum of 4.3 million euros, which comes from the crime of bribe-taking at the expense of the Greek state, in cases of procurement, was transferred in January 2017 into the bank account which has opened at the Bank of Greece with the Greek state as beneficiary," Kontonis said.