Former PM Samaras points to 'Rasputin'

The government official that supposedly influenced the investigation of alleged bribes paid by Novartis to politicians is Alternate Justice Minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos, former conservative premier Antonis Samaras claimed in an interview with the Parapolitika newspaper that was published on Saturday.

Samaras is one of 10 Greek politicians implicated in the alleged bribery scandal by a judicial probe which has, however, failed to produce any concrete evidence of payments to politicians' accounts or those of their relatives.

Deputy Supreme Court Prosecutor Ioannis Angelis, who has questioned the handling of the investigation into the Novartis probe, had referred to a politician that allegedly sought to influence the course of the probe, naming him only as "Rasputin."

That person is Papangelopoulos, Samaras claimed, noting that the outgoing minister is among...

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