Greek money laundering authority freezes assets of Filippos Kamboures and LAOS party

The freeze order

The Anti-Money Laundering Authority, headed by Charalambos Vourliotis, an honorary deputy prosecutor of the Areios Pagos, has ordered a general freeze of the assets of Filippos Kamboures, the LAOS leader and television presenter. The order covers everyone involved in the recent e-EFKA fraud case, and it also reaches the LAOS party itself, because sources say the party was used as a vehicle to pass illicit funds through its structures. In total, the freeze applies to 12 natural persons and 32 legal entities, including companies, in a probe that found sufficient indications of money laundering at the level of a felony. Kamboures's wife is among those affected. Reports describe the step as the first freeze of this kind against a political party's assets.

The e-EFKA fraud case

The freeze follows the pretrial detention of Kamboures and his wife, who were remanded in custody early on Monday, 12 October, after lengthy questioning in a case of alleged fraud against the e-EFKA social security body. Reports disagree on how many others were remanded with them: one puts the number of other defendants at three, another at four people who had been arrested. The fraud is described as a scheme against the public purse amounting to millions of euros. The Authority's inquiry began a few months earlier, after suspicious banking transactions in Greece, and it later widened to transactions the couple carried out with a bank in a European Union country. The freeze came within days of the remand, while the probe was still under way.

Properties and vehicles

Investigators have identified and frozen five properties in the southern suburbs of Athens and in other parts of the country, according to the reports. Eight cars are frozen as well, and four of them are reportedly owned by LAOS. Sources do not give values for the properties or vehicles, so the total worth of the frozen assets is not known. These counts reflect the investigation to date, so they may still change as the probe continues.

Next steps

The Authority has forwarded its findings and the freeze orders to the competent prosecutor, who will examine them further. The case is already being investigated by the judiciary, and the reports do not give a date for the next procedural step. The file covers the 12 natural persons and 32 legal entities named in the order. The freeze is provisional, so it does not amount to a verdict on any of the people or companies named.