Businessman Lavrentiadis facing more fraud charges

Disgraced businessman Lavrentis Lavrentiadis is facing fresh charges of fraud, after he and four close associates were accused by an Athens prosecutor of cheating Alpha Bank out of millions of euros in loans.

Lavrentiadis, who is currently on trial in connection with the failed bank Proton, is being accused of complicity in a decision to transfer the activities of Hellenic Ferilizer (ELFE) to two other firms in order to get out of having to pay back its loans.

The investigation into the five suspects began in 2016, following a complaint from the lender, which claimed that ELFE's management tried to make the fertilizer firm appear as though it had gone bankrupt so as to compel the Greek state to step in and pay off its debts.

The two other companies that were carrying out ELFE's work, meanwhile, were free to make a profit, without having any responsibility to pay...