Lavrentiadis denies implication in embezzlement scandal

Businessman Lavrentis Lavrentiadis, a major shareholder in Proton Bank, on Sunday denied any involvement in a 51 million euros embezzlement case that, according to press reports, the Greek money-laundering watchdog is currently investigating.
In a statement, Lavrentiadis charged that the exploitation of his alleged involvement was an attack by a network of interests that seeks to control developments in the banking sector during an extremely critical period, adding that his business activities have always been “absolutely legal”.
Lavrentiadis categorically denied any accusation and involvement in such activities, calling the reports “ungrounded and extremely slanderous”.
In that direction, the announcement continued, Lavrentiadis asks for the immediate investigation by the Bank of Greece of such expediencies, adding that he will not remain a simple spectator in the case and will cooperate with the authorities so that light will be shed on the case in which his name has been implicated, and reserves all legal rights so that “the slanderers and all those hidden behind them will receive the reply they deserve”.
According to press reports, the head of the money-laundering watchdog, Supreme court prosecutor Panagiotis Nikoloudis on Wednesday issued a decision from which it arises that a 51 million euros embezzlement is being investigated, in which members of the Proton Bank board of directors are implicated. The decision, the reports said, call for a freeze on the movement of all bank accounts owned by Lavrentiadis and another seven people who have served on the bank’s board.