Kantas deposition leads to arrest of weapons dealer
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
The deposition of jailed former deputy director for procurements Antonis Kantas precipitated a series of judicial actions and inquiries, the first of which was the arrest of a weapons firm representative.
The first fallout from Kantas' deposition was the arrest of Wegmann representative Dimitris Papachristos, as well as the issuance of
warrants against another two persons by judicial authorities
In his deposition, Kantas had stated that Papachristos gave him 750,000 euros as a kickback for the purchase of PzH 2000 artillery systems, worth 190 million euros.
At the same time, graft inquisitor Gavriil Mallis issued two warrants for two other persons mentioned by Kantas as implicated in the kickback issue.
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG (KMW) is a leader in the European market for armored wheeled and tracked vehicles. The armed forces of more than 30 nations worldwide rely on tactical systems by KMW.
The PzH 2000 is a highly mobile and flexible weapon system which is deployed in both conventional missions as well as in asymmetric mission scenarios as indirect fire support. The fully automatic handling of the 60 round on-board ammunition reserve and a modern and precise 155 mm/ L52 ordnance enable the engaging of targets at a high rate of fire – within the shortest amount of time.
The Hellenic Army bought two battalions (24 guns) of the weapons for use by the Army Corps D which guards the Greek-Turkish frontier. So far the system has proven extremely popular with Greek field commanders.
KMW also makes the Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 MBTs in service with the Hellenic army.
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