At the center of the case are two prominent Greek arms dealers, Alexandros Tsatsos and Stavros Komnopoulos, co-owners of the defense company KESTREL, who are facing charges of repeated passive bribery, money laundering, and complicity in financial crimes.
The alleged offenses date back over 25 years, but the scandal was only fully exposed in 2014. After numerous procedural delays, the case is now being heard by the Court of Appeals.
The trial began in October 2024 and has so far held eight sessions, with the next scheduled for mid-April 2025.
Also among the accused are several former senior officials, including Antonis Kantas, the former deputy director of the defense ministry’s procurement division; three retired air force officers; and Konstantinos Dedes, a former investment banker based in London, who is believed to have facilitated the movement of funds through offshore accounts.
At the heart of the case is a 2000 contract—number 37Γ/00—signed by then-Greek Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos for the purchase of four AS-332 Super Puma helicopters from Eurocopter (now part of Airbus Helicopters) for over €61 million.
In 2002, under his successor Giannos Papantoniou, Greece exercised an option to buy two additional helicopters.
According to the indictment, Tsatsos and Komnopoulos allegedly offered bribes totaling more than €523,000 to high-ranking officers in 1998 to ensure the contract's approval and execution. These payments were allegedly made under the table in exchange for favorable treatment during the procurement process—violating public duty and procurement laws.
Investigators claim that Theodoros Moschos, one of the retired officers, received the full amount in 2008, with substantial portions allegedly passed on to two other officers, Ioannis Rammos and Panagiotis Strantzalis.
Prosecutors also allege that the two businessmen engaged in a series of complex financial maneuvers—transferring funds through multiple banks and shell companies in different countries—in an effort to hide the origin of the bribes and obstruct investigations by Greek authorities.
The financial trail includes offshore companies and false intermediaries, typical of large-scale money laundering schemes used to wash illicit funds and make them appear legitimate.
The case has also drawn attention to other figures, including far-right politician Giorgos Karatzaferis. Investigators found that he received €1.6 million in two installments from Tsatsos via an offshore company in 2007 and 2008.
However, Karatzaferis was only sanctioned for filing false asset declarations and was not directly implicated in the bribery or money laundering activities.
This trial not only aims to clarify the truth behind procurement deals made a generation ago but also highlights the enduring influence of private actors like Tsatsos and Komnopoulos in multi-million euro arms contracts.
