eKathimerini — Six former members of the TAIPED experts council accused in the case of the sale and leaseback of 28 state properties were granted unconditional release after testifying in Athens on Friday.
The six experts included three foreign technocrats appointed by the Euro Working Group: one Slovak, one Spaniard and one Italian. The main line of defence was that their role in the properties’ sale and leaseback by the state sell-off fund was by definition advisory and that TAIPED management made the decision.
According to a European official, unless there is some sort of assurance by the Greek side on their protection in one way or another, even the disbursement of the 7.5-billion-euro bailout subtranche will be at risk.
The disbursement requires the approval of the Euro Working Group, whose Slovak, Spanish and Italian members appear particularly annoyed by the court case and “no one knows what their attitude will be,” according to the same European official.
Five of the 28 buildings belonged to ministries, 13 were former tax offices and five belonged to the police.
The buildings were transferred to TAIPED to be sold and a sale-and-leaseback deal was agreed whereby the state leased back the buildings for 20 years.
The properties were sold for 261 million euro while the Greek state agreed to pay rent to continue using the buildings. The first year the state paid 25.5 million euro in rent.
The case also involved an investigation on a payment 100,000 euro in interest on the sale price.
