The leader of the small nationalist LAOS party, Giorgos Karatzaferis, was given a one year jail sentence suspended for three years on Monday for failing to declare all his assets on his derivation of wealth forms (“pothen esches”) and was fined 10000 euros.
Mr Karatzaferis’s Laos party briefly took part in the ruling PASOK/ND coalition – marking its first time in power – but pulled out in February 2012, after refusing to support further austerity measures.
The undeclared amount is reported to be in the region of 6.6 M $US in a trust fund. Mr Karatzaferis claimed that he was badly advised by his accountant and was not aware that he had to declare that amount.
The LAOS leader said the fund was built up through his salary as an MEP and 1.65 million euros he was given in return for shares in the TV station he founded, called Telecity.
The former parliamentarian politician told the Athens court he was “deeply saddened” by the failure to declare the money, an oversight that he blamed on his accountant and others who had “betrayed” him.
The court found Mr Karatzaferis not guilty of charges relating to his involvement with an off shore company and a Brussels property
