Novartis case twists after protected witness charged with bribery

The dean of the National School of Public Health charged with passive bribery in an interview with protothema claimed that twice during the last week (December 27 and 28) he was summoned by Prosecutors Against Corruption who pressed him to incriminate three political figures: Former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, Deputy ND president Adonis Georgiades, and Governor of the Bank of Greece, Giannis Stournaras.

Specifically, Mr. Maniadakis maintains:

"I am being pressured to admit guilt for political figures whom I never know if they have done or not  or have done anything," said Mr Maniadakis.

- "What do you mean pushing you?"

"To mention and tell if I know if three politicians have been bribed or not".

- "Who did they ask you about?"

"They were asking me about the former Prime Minister Mr. Samaras, Mr. Georgiadis and Mr. Stournaras," said Nikos Maniadakis, who is being accused of passive bribery since December 31st.

And Mr Mianiadakis, the up to recently protected witness in the Novartis case codenamed "Giannis Anastasiou", continues: "In many of the cases where prosecutors pressed me when the other witnesses said I was bribed, they asked me then if I knew if the politicians were bribed and whether I was bribing politicians. " "The three specific politicians?" was the question posed.  "Yes" was the uniquivocal answer of Mr. Nikos Maniadakis.

"The accusation arose on Monday afternoon after I had been held for six hours," says Mr Maniadakis concerning the prosecution that was brought against him for passive bribery. "I was pressured by leaks and very clear reports from the prosecutors that the other two witnesses blame me and this has the effect of prosecution," says the former protected witness under the code name "Yiannis Anastasios" and characterizes the prosecution against him for passive bribery as "purely political".

In a question to Professor Nikos Maniadakis how a politician could know his identity and publish his photo even though he is a protected person, Maniadakis retorted "Mr. Polakis made a serious mistake with the quiz he posted revealing details of the case file and how is it possible to know the elements of the case file that is not within his competency? It is worth asking: How does a non-competent body know it?" notes Mr Maniadakis referring to the Deputy Minister of Health.

Then Nikos Maniadakis was asked, which of the other two protected witnesses claimed that he had been bribed.

"The first deposition belongs to Aikaterini Keleki, who has been revealed as Maximos Sarafis. The first time they said 200,000, they are now talking about 120,000 euros," says Mr. Mandiadakis, adding: "How is it that there is suddenly a case against me and pressure exercised before prosecution? I have given the FBI the information I have given to the Greek authorities as well. Because I refused to become a protected witness in the United States, which are also involved, " says Mr. Mianiadakis, adding:" I have given the FBI the information I have given to the Greek authorities. "

"No, I got permission from the Greek prosecutors and I filed exactly the same information I filed with the Greek prosecutors and the FBI, and these figures show the evolution of pharmaceutical expense, the cases of increases in the prices of drugs, the particular medicines that have seen increases and damage to the public," said Professor Nikos Maniadakis.

As he claims, the FBI agents had the wrong information. "I have to tell you that the Americans were misinformed, they had recently filed in America evidence from the other two witnesses about my involvement and I told them that I considered these reports unreliable and I said that these reports should be cross checked," he argues.

The involvement of Nikos Maniadakis in the Novartis case was unknown until December 31st. On that day, while he was at the airport with his wife and two children in order to travel to Barcelona for the holidays, after six hours of detention at Eleftherios Venizelos Airport, he was told that he was being prosecuted and his Greek passport was confiscated. Since that day, it has been revealed that Professor Nikos Maniadakis is the protected witness to whom the Prosecutor's Office of Corruption has given the code name "Giannis Anastasiou".