30-40 million {dollars} compensation to at the least 4 individuals who cooperated with the American authorities • Why they “lower” Maniadakis
Full affirmation of the Novartis scandal is the cost of tens of hundreds of thousands of euros in compensation by the American authorities to the general public curiosity witnesses (whistleblowers) within the USA for his or her contribution to clarifying the case, which led the pharmaceutical big to pay about 340 million euros to the American public.
This can be a growth that confirms the validity and reliability of what the protected witnesses have testified. That’s the reason the Greek Justice has already dominated with exculpatory will of the judicial council of the Supreme Particular Courtroom for the false prosecutions towards journalists who uncovered the Novartis scandal. The Particular Courtroom additionally dominated that it acquitted corruption prosecutor Eleni Touloupaki of the fees she was going through as a result of she was doing her job.
Based on data from Documento, at the least six individuals who cooperated with the American authorities have filed a request for the cost of compensation. Of those, the American authorities rejected two after an intensive analysis. Amongst them is Professor Nikos Maniadakis, who allegedly supplied a whole lot of details about the “Harvard mission”. Based on the identical sources, the People judged that Maniadakis was “unreliable” due to the angle he maintained in our nation. So far as these compensated are involved, the quantity of compensation ranges from 30-40 million {dollars} just for the case of Greece.
The cost of the compensation and the validation of the validity of the witnesses it entails can also be the explanation why quite a few ministers of the Mitsotakis authorities, led by former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, introduced up the problem of showing the identities of the protected witnesses.
On the identical time, the well-known US lawyer Steven Cohn, who represented the general public curiosity witnesses on the opposite facet of the Atlantic, sends a convincing message to the Greek authorities in an interview with Documento. As he explains, public curiosity witnesses are “protected by American regulation and US regulation.” In truth, within the occasion that the Greek authorities makes an attempt to disclose the names of the informants, it warns that with a request it’s going to file within the US it’s going to request “the expulsion of Greece from the OECD” and the “issuance of arrest warrants by Interpol for the arrest of Greek officers”, for “obstruction of American Justice and violation of the rights of informants”.
Why did not Maniadakis get any cash
Based on data from Documento, the general public curiosity witnesses filed a request for compensation earlier than the particular committee of the US Division of Justice. It was about at the least six individuals who cooperated with the American authorities, after the People first checked their credibility and the knowledge they supplied. US protected witness laws particularly states that public curiosity witness requests for compensation are filed after the authorities’ investigation has been accomplished, fines have been imposed on the offenders, and the latter have paid them to the US Treasury. On this case the requests for the “award” (award), as it’s known as, have been made after Novartis paid the tremendous of 340 million {dollars} to the American authorities. The committee then evaluated every request individually. After practically three years of analysis, the People rejected two of the six functions.
One of many rejected functions was from Professor of Public Well being N. Maniadakis. The explanations for the rejection needed to do together with his “twin” position in Greece which resulted in him being deemed “unreliable” by the People. Maniadakis was a protected witness in Greece beneath the code title “Yiannis Anastasiou”, in addition to within the USA. He was then accused by the Corruption Prosecutor’s Workplace (launched voluntarily in 2022).
Maniadakis was one of many most important “sources” of Costas Vaxevanis within the Novartis case, as he had formally testified to the Particular Courtroom investigator Konstantina Alevizopoulos when the writer of Documento was accused with a trumped-up indictment, solely to be acquitted afterwards. Ok. Vaxevanis had filed an audio doc with Maniadakis who knowledgeable him in 2018 about his conferences with the central banker Giannis Stournaras. Based on what Maniadakis had advised the editor of Documento, Stournaras known as him to his workplace and threatened him saying that “both you may be with us or after we turn into a authorities we are going to change the authorized standing and we are going to fuck you”.
4 witnesses bought $40 million
The 4 public curiosity witnesses who have been discovered to be credible have been compensated by the US authorities. The quantity ranges from 30 to 40 million {dollars} in line with data from Documento. This cash considerations compensation solely to the witnesses who cooperated for the Novartis scandal in Greece. The pharmaceutical big paid the US a complete of 340 million {dollars} as a part of an out-of-court settlement. Of those, $315 million associated to unfair practices in Greece within the interval 2012-15. The remainder associated to Novartis’ corrupt practices in Vietnam and South Korea. For the general public curiosity witnesses who supplied details and details about these nations the quantity of compensation reached 16 billion {dollars}.
The Courtroom had already rejected the Samaras request
Within the meantime, the problem of showing the identities of the protected witnesses, introduced again to the “agenda” by ministers of the Greek authorities and the previous prime minister Ant. Samaras, has been judged by the Greek Judiciary and even on the highest stage. That is the need numbered 25/2022 of the judicial council of the Supreme Particular Courtroom, by which each Ok. Vaxevanis and the remainder of the journalists have been unanimously acquitted of all false accusations introduced towards them within the Novartis case.
Based on the need, the protected witnesses have been “important” and “contributed with the proof and materials they possessed to the disclosure of the aforementioned felony acts.” The judicial council additionally stated the protected witnesses had been recognized by corruption prosecutors from statements that they had given to the FBI.
With regard to the argument that the protected witnesses illegally testified in Greece as a result of they anticipated a monetary profit as a result of their testimony within the USA, on web page 262 of the decree quantity 25/2022 it’s famous: “The allegation that they have been illegally characterised as public curiosity witnesses as a result of anticipate the identical profit from their depositions within the US judicial authorities is rejected. It is because the existence of any monetary profit in accordance with the authorized regime of the USA doesn’t prohibit the above characterization of them by the corruption prosecution in Greece, so long as their profit – a sum of cash, which they acquired or are going to obtain from the US authorities, has not as a situation of their testimony in Greece, that’s, the testimony within the US and in Greece should not causally related and consequently their testimony within the US doesn’t make them incompetent witnesses in Greece”.
Former Prime Minister A. Samaras, Minister of Justice G. Floridis and A. Loverdos introduced up the problem of showing the identities of protected witnesses, upsetting the response of the American facet
Stephen Conn
If names are revealed, Greek officers can be arrested
Interview with Vangelis Triantis
A powerful message with a number of recipients is shipped by Documento by the American advocate of the Greek public curiosity witnesses Steven Cohn. The lawyer will not be a random individual. In March 2024, he was named by “Forbes” journal as one of many high 200 legal professionals within the US, whereas he has taken the lead in a number of of the most important “whistleblower” circumstances within the US and internationally.
Amongst them the case of the Swiss financial institution UBS with public curiosity whistleblower American-born Bradley Birkenfeld (he had beforehand spoken to Documento). Birkenfeld was a banker and wealth supervisor at UBS in Switzerland and uncovered an enormous tax evasion scheme. UBS was compelled to pay a $780 million tremendous and hand over the names of greater than 4,450 US taxpayers. Birkenfeld was compensated with 104 million {dollars} for his cooperation with the American authorities.
Greek authorities ministers request that the anonymity standing of protected witnesses within the Novartis case be lifted. How do you touch upon this angle?
Sanctions have been imposed on the pharmaceutical firm Novartis for bribes in Greece. The one query that continues to be is who within the Greek authorities took these bribes. Below US regulation, any whistleblower in Greece who supplied data to the USA authorities about Novartis is protected by regulation. Their identities are protected by regulation. The Authorities of Greece has an obligation, in accordance with worldwide treaties and the OECD Anti-Bribery Conference, to respect United States anti-bribery legal guidelines.
Makes an attempt by officers in Greece to undermine US anti-bribery legal guidelines and reveal the identities of Greek officers who acquired bribes would represent violations of the OECD Anti-Bribery Conference, the EU Witness Safety Directive and worldwide regulation.
What’s the US regulation on compensation for protected witnesses?
The Novartis case is ruled by United States regulation. Whistleblowers who supplied data to the USA are protected. I have no idea if any Greek citizen has acquired any compensation beneath Greek regulation. If the federal government of Greece tries to undermine the US Overseas Corrupt Practices Act, Greece ought to face extreme sanctions or be expelled from the OECD.
Apparently with the intention to give cash to the witnesses the US thought of the proof supplied to them to be dependable. Accurately;
Whistleblowers are entitled to finish confidentiality beneath US regulation. Any try to violate these authorized rights would, for my part, represent felony obstruction of American Justice and witness intimidation. Whether or not any informants obtained cash on this case and whether or not these witnesses are residents of Greece is confidential data of the US police. There may be completely no proof that the Greek authorities or any entity in Greece paid or compensated the whistleblowers. There may be proof that members of the Greek authorities acquired bribes in violation of the US Overseas Corrupt Practices Act.
In the event that they reveal the names of the protected witnesses, what is going to that imply for the rule of regulation in our nation?
If the Greek authorities releases the names of the whistleblowers, we are going to ask the USA to hunt Greece’s expulsion from the OECD and for Interpol warrants to be issued for the arrest of all Greek officers chargeable for obstruction of US Justice and rights violations of whistleblowers beneath US regulation.
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#ultimatum #Novartis
