Yet another case has come to light that involves the Tsipras family and the technical company Diodos. After the revelations about the favourable terms of a company loan, and the questions that arose that the PM’s office never answered, now Alexis Tsipras must offer answers about the case of a fake insurance contributions certificate (that the company is up to date with insurance contributions), with which the technical company of the Tsipras family appears to have sought to land a public contract worth 1.1 million euros in the Northern Aegean region.
New Democracy alleges that there were machinations so that Alexis Tsipras’ brother, Georgios Tsipras, although he was tried, was set free using the infamous Paraskevopoulos law, that released prisoners in order to decongest the prison system.
“The prime minister’s associates, instead of exposing themselves by issuing mud-slinging announcements, should convince the PM to explain to citizens why his brother Dimitris Tsipras was tried for presenting a fake insurance contributions certificate and how he did not serve his sentence due to the Paraskevopoulos law,” New Democracy said in a statement.
“Let them inform him that in any civilised country it is inconceivable for the siblings of the prime minister to conclude contracts with the public sector. This is all the more true when he uses forged documents and secures favourable terms for a bank loan that he received. We shall revisit this issue,” ND said.
The response from the Tsipras side came from lawyer Yannis Mantzouranis, but it involved only the judicial part of the case, and not procedural issues like the fake certificate.
Mantzouranis said that Dimitris Tsipras was never fined or convicted by a court, “Hence, a penalty was never imposed and thus could not have been avoided by use of the Paraskevopoulos law, which is in effect since 2016and covers all Greek citizens.”
Mantzouranis said the courts never probed the substance of the case, never opined on his possible guilt, and hence no penalty was imposed, as the court accepted that the crime had been written off (statute of limitations) and so it passed no judgment on guilt or any penalty.
Essentially, the lawyer confirmed that he is not denying the existence of the bogus certificate, of which he makes no mention in his statement.
New Democracy vice president Adonis Georgiadis said that, “The PM’s brother was convicted of presenting a forged insurance certificate for a tender on Mytilini. He was convicted and handed down a two-year prison sentence, but that had no effect on his criminal record, because when the penalty was imposed, a law tabled by then justice minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos said that any penalties of up to two years are written off and there is no prosecution. I am telling you that the law was designed to cover this case.”
