Greek ex-minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos imprisoned for eight years for tax fraud

[pampango]

Akis Tsohatzopoulos, former defence minister and Pasok politician, is taken
to court in Athens. He is the highest-profile politician to be jailed in decades.

A Greek court has sentenced a former defence minister to eight years in prison for failing to disclose the source of lavish wealth that made him a symbol of the corruption that has plagued the country.

Once a powerful Socialist politician who almost became prime minister in the 1990s, Akis Tsohatzopoulos has been in jail pending trial since April last year as prosecutors investigated allegations of fraudulently acquired wealth.

In the highest-profile conviction of a politician in decades, the Athens appeal court ruled on Monday that his income statements between 2006 and 2009 were false and he had failed to declare a neo-classical mansion at the foot of the ancient Acropolis when he bought it in 2009. During the trial, details emerged of an opulent lifestyle that confirmed popular impressions of a self-serving elite that used public office for personal enrichment.

On Thursday, a former mayor of the country's second city, Thessaloniki, was jailed for life for embezzling about €20m (£17m) in the first big corruption trial since the crisis erupted. Tsohatzopoulos faces a further trial on charges of money laundering and using offshore companies to buy the luxurious mansion in Athens.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/04/former-greek-minister-akis-tsohatzopoulos-jailed