CORRUPTION - Cash on the sofa

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CORRUPTION

Cash on the sofa

From Schmitt, Jörg

A former top official of the Athens Defense reveals how he was bribed for years - allegedly by German arms companies.

The day before Christmas Eve took Antonios Cantas to end his great confession - if not entirely voluntary. Less than a week before the former top officials of the Defense Ministry in Athens had been arrested.Investigators had discovered a secret million on account of Cantas the bank Julius Baer in Singapore. Now the 72-year-old had unpacked for four days, on alleged accounts, clients, middlemen.

Around 13 million U.S. dollars bribe for a dozen defense contracts will have conceded armor in the Athens of Defense between 1992 and 2002 claims to be the former head of the Directorate important for arms purchases. Even a former minister stressed Cantas difficult.

What the matter makes this country so explosive: Cantas named in his testimony also weapons deals with German firms, where he was allegedly greased.

He claims to have received 1.5 million euros alone for defense procurement to Rheinmetall AG of a Greek middleman, so the lucrative business on-air missiles and a lot of electronics for the modernization of submarines actually after Germany went - what the company denies. The Bremen office is investigating for weeks in the cases.

Cantas told investigators in the days before Christmas Eve, but also from a billion deal Munich armorers Krauss Maffei Wegmann (KMW), who had already caused a stir once almost ten years ago (Spiegel 6/2004). It involves the sale of 170 battle tanks of the type "Leopard 2" to Greece, which was negotiated between 1996 and 2003. Volume: 1.7 billion euros.

Cantas explained that he had at that time been as chief arms buyer against business - too expensive. The "benefit was not in proportion to the cost." However, the then Minister of Defence Giannos Papantoniou've seen otherwise. Then he had one day, it was in December 2001, received a visit from Thomas Liakounakos. The Athenians Industrial had long been acting as an intermediary for the KMW predecessor, the former Mannesmann subsidiary Krauss Maffei AG. Cantas knew him from earlier arms deals.

Liakounakos have made it clear to him that he "should not have any problems with the 'Leopard make 2'-procurement". Then, it is according to former officials, had got up and gone his opponent - and have had a travel bag are on the sofa. "When I realized it, I went to the door and called after him. You forgot your bag" But Liakounakos've just answered tersely: "I have not forgotten, it's for you."

Cantas want to have then opened the bag and found in bills worth of 600 000 euros: "From then on I was no longer a concern prior to the procurement."

KMW bribes in the billion-dollar business with Greece always denied. "We got the job because of the better price and better technology," it said so far in management.

But there are doubts that in the shop all approached with the right things. Because Liakounakos, the man with the bag full of cash is the business partner for decades tank builder. And he has collected large sums of money to help KMW to pull the "Leopard" business with Athens on land. But also to bribe decision makers such as Antonio Cantas?

A possible trail leads to the Boulevard des Moulins in Monaco (Transatmaritme SAM to be precise whose administrator are Peter Coleridge and Sandra Colerdige). There resided the International Barter & Offset Service Corporation (Ibos) (Directors Peter & Sandra Coleridge): a shell company that was founded in the fall of 1999 in the Caribbean palm and tax haven Nevis and has since resided in a law firm in the Principality - without its own office, without their own telephone number. Savoury: Cantas claimed Liakounakos have also offered him a bribe to let discreetly run on shell companies at a law firm in Monaco when he would recite no more objections to the "Leopard 2" program in the Ministry. So the statement of the former officials.

From the perspective of the Monegasque KMW Ibos apparently possessed great influence in Athens. Because the mailbox company closed in advance of the Panzer decision a million contract with the armorer.

According to contract Ibos should help organize the information required by Athens offsetting transactions in the amount of four billion euros - that is to find, for example, Greek suppliers for the project to build maintenance facilities for the tanks or to provide military technical knowledge.

Behind Ibos but should ultimately be Liakounakos and his company Axon.And who is considered one of the most influential power brokers, if you wanted to make arms deals with Athens in the past decades. Hardly a defense deal in which the Industrial his fingers had not in the game, whether in tanks, helicopters or airplanes. Liakounakos had need the contacts that arms companies such as KMW.

Officially, KMW has a collaboration with Liakounakos in the tank deal never denied. The relations between the crafter and the very wealthy Greeks, who has invested his Axon Group also in the health sector and in the construction industry should go back to the eighties, as Krauss Maffei, the first "Leopard 1" sold tanks to Athens.

No wonder, therefore, that the arms company including sale of the successor model sat on the Greek businessman. For the counter transactions, the so-called offset, is a close coordination with the Greek government have been necessary, says a former KMW Manager. "We have taken the help of Liakounakos to complete."

Really just for that? Should the Athens prosecutor to find out that Liakounakos has officials Cantas actually bribed, threatened KMW in Greece possibly damages in the billions.

Liakounakos denies ever having paid bribes. And KMW explained upon request, to have him and his Axon Group only paid for it, "to provide a comprehensive range offset benefits". For axon had "received adequate remuneration" a.

Payments to the mailbox company Ibos want KMW not have done. They had "let the contract with Ibos in 2001, prior to the conclusion of the supply contract 'Leopard 2' expire '. Of the 600 000 euros, the Liakounakos should have left to the top officials Cantas that it had "no knowledge". We undertake its partners take "strictly lawful to behave."Nevertheless, KMW will now be examined externally in case.

Meanwhile, the Munich prosecutor has opened an investigation procedure. The investigators want to first obtain Cantas' statement - and then possibly roll up the circumstances of the tank deals again, if that is not time-barred.

The Munich investigators were KMW years ago on the track. On 8November 2004, the then chief prosecutor August Stern at the business number 562 AR 67291/04 a request for assistance sent to Athens.Whether one is "the understanding of whether payments by the company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann" have and what you know about an "International Barter & Offset Service Corporation".

At the time, Athens refused the help. This time, the Munich-based hope for more cooperation from their Greek counterparts.

DER SPIEGEL 2/2014