The more than 60-page conclusion of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority is already in the hands of the Financial Prosecutor Christos Bardakas[/B] and is being studied. from Criminal Activities (money laundering) in which all the assets and bank deposits of the deceased and his wife Maria Karras were frozen, which, according to initial estimates, are valued at over €100 million.
As already revealed, the property of George Trangas, which has so far become known, includes 17 properties, deposits in foreign and domestic banks as well as in bank accounts. In fact, in a foreign bank vault a little less than 10 gold bars were found, of unknown origin and without any official paperwork confirming the legality of their acquisition.
The properties uncovered are two in the State, two in Mykonos, four in Monaco, one in Paris, one in St. Tropez. The deceased journalist's estate also includes apartments in Washington, Beverly Hills, Las Vegas, Miami and one in the Olympic Tower on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, etc.
In addition to all this, it was revealed that loans taken by George Trangas from Greek Banks (and especially from a Bank which was already absorbed by another Bank) were never repaid, as the loan amounts were given away or 1/3 of the original loan amount was paid and then the remaining amount of the loan contract was given away as paid.
The head of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority, former deputy prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Haralambos Vourliotis, before proceeding with the drafting of the report which subsequently led to the freezing of the assets of George Trangas, had requested the assistance of the respective financial and prosecutorial control mechanisms from the United States, Monaco and other countries in which the existence of bank accounts and real estate was revealed
Specifically, the Authority requested and received from abroad data on the companies held by George Trangas, as well as their balance sheets, and requested the statements of the movements of the joint bank accounts held individually by him and the Tranga couple[/B] abroad,[/B] after the year 2000.
And I requested financial, etc. evidence after the year 2000, as even to prove that offences of a felony nature have been committed,[/B] they have been subject to expungement before that year.
At the same time, the Authority requested the Bank of Greece to search for the bank accounts held individually or together with other persons (joint accounts) by George Trangas, as well as the movements of these accounts.
Furthermore, copies of George Trangas' tax returns were requested from 2000 onwards, despite the fact that from some time onwards his tax domicile had been transferred abroad.
In addition, copies of the 'patents' (assets) declarations were requested from the National Transparency Authority (NTA) of the Parliament, despite the fact that only the last few years were available in electronic form.[/B] As is well known, in previous years the declarations of assets and liabilities were collected at the Supreme Court, which was originally responsible for these declarations (and stored in the basements of the Supreme Court).
His wife Maria Karra[/B] is also involved in the ownership of George Trangas' property[/B], as there are joint bank accounts with the deceased, and she participated as a shareholder in his businesses. Together, 3 to 4 of his close associates are allegedly involved, who were involved in both the business activities of George Trangas, as well as in mediating and facilitating the movement of large sums of money, but also the purchase of real estate, etc.
So far it does not appear that there is any involvement of the children of Giannis and Frederikos (Freddy) Trangas in the bank accounts abroad, as well as in the whole process of acquiring the deceased journalist's property.
Mr. Bardakis will have already proceeded to investigate the criminal part of the whole case. In particular, he will seek whether and to what extent they are involved in the whole financial activity, acquisition of undeclared property, etc., relatives of the surviving journalist, as well as his close associates.
He will then begin to invite as suspects the relatives, etc. to testify and depending on the explanations given, he will proceed with the appropriate actions.
According to the information available so far, these persons-if, of course, their involvement is proven-will face the felony offences of money laundering and unjust enrichment (felonies which carry sentences of at least 10 years or more).
Following these developments of the freezing of all of George Trangas' assets, "freezes" virtually all of his property both in Greece and abroad and in the event that his wife and children proceed to accept an inheritance, they will find themselves in the dock facing charges of money laundering and unjust enrichment.
However, it is expected that the relatives of George Trangas will immediately exercise all legal remedies against the freezing of the deceased journalist's property.
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