Greek Shipping Billionaire Victor Restis Acquitted of all Charges by Hellenic Supreme Court
(PRWEB) October 07, 2016 -- Money laundering and embezzlement charges against Greek ship-owner, Victor Restis, were dismissed by “Arios Pagos” the Hellenic Supreme Court (Case No. 1192/2016), based in Athens. The Supreme Court stated that the defendant’s actions had been standard business practice and therefore not illegal.
The Restis group of companies owned by Victor Restis is one of the largest in Greece and is engaged in shipping, investment, media and real estate.
Charges included the accusation that by failing to disclose his identity in FBBank loan application documents, and receiving a preferential interest rate and terms, Restis had deliberately concealed the true ownership of the companies involved and acted in breach of his fiduciary duty to the bank as a board member.
In its decision, the Court of Appeal noted that the funds in question had been a loan for working capital and had duly been applied to the day-to-day running of the company and therefore not been used inappropriately. It also stated that considering Victor Restis was in charge of a shipping group with a net value exceeding 620 million Euros, at no time was the financial stability of FBBank compromised by the loan. Furthermore, the charge of embezzlement could not be established since the loans had been fully paid, and in particular, a second loan had been paid before it even became due. The Court concluded that therefore there had been an intention all along to repay the loan, and the material ability to do so and that the charges against Mr. Restis were wrong.
Mr. Restis expressed relief that the ordeal was behind him and issued a written statement: “The past three years have been extremely difficult for me, but even more so for my family, and my five-thousand employees, whose income depends on the stability and reputation of the business. The charges against me were without foundation from the start, but I knew I had to be patient and wait for justice to prevail. I believe in the integrity of the Greek courts and I am naturally very pleased that the charges against me were completely and totally rejected by the highest court in Greece. Now we must all work hard to restore a reputation for integrity as a company and a nation. Personally, I look forward to a bright and productive future for my business interests, not only in Greece but also globally.”
Also acquitted by the Court were co-defendants Marinos Danalatos, Dimitrios Vrontos, Vasileios Prevezanos, Georgios Tsibis, Georgios Sarris, and Konstantinos Mitsios, Dimitrios Kallimanis, Anastasios Pallis, Christos Kazantzis, Nikolaos Vougioukas, Joseph Matarasso, Ioannis Pangiotopoulos, Polychronis Panagiotopoulos, Dimitrios Babiris, Dimitrios Anastasiou, Konstantinos Zafeiropoulos and Bella Resti.
Mark Smith, NCI, +1 (646) 318-5155, [email protected]
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