Greece prosecutes Novartis graft probe witnesses
Source: NEOS KOSMOS
Greece on Monday prosecuted a pair of protected witnesses in a long-running bribery probe involving Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis for alleged perjury, a justice source said.
The man and woman are expected to go on trial on March 7.
The case, which began in 2017, sparked a scandal in Greece as the witnesses testified that a number of senior politicians were supposedly involved in helping Novartis dominate the Greek health market.
As well as politicians, some 100 doctors and about 30 high-ranking civil servants were allegedly caught up in the affair.
But investigating magistrates failed to find enough incriminating evidence to formally press charges.
In October, judicial authorities took the rare step of revealing the identities of the witnesses after calls from senior politicians targeted in the probe.
Critics at the time said the move would discourage future witnesses from giving testimony on condition of anonymity.
All those named, including Greek central banker Yannis Stournaras, former prime minister Antonis Samaras and former EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, denied wrongdoing.
The Greek subsidiary of Novartis later admitted paying kickbacks between 2012 and 2015 to employees of public hospitals to boost sales of its products, according to US federal prosecutors.
The alleged result was a commanding position for Novartis in the Greek healthcare market, allowing it to inflate its prices even as Greece was in the midst of a serious financial crisis.
Greek officials have estimated that the scheme cost the state some three billion euros ($3.12 billion) in inflated prices.
The current conservative government in 2022 sued the company, claiming 214 million euros in damages.
A significant share of the investigation into Novartis has taken place in the United States, where the company in 2020 agreed to pay $345 million to settle charges connected to bribery schemes aimed at boosting sales.
Source: AFP
The original article: belongs to NEOS KOSMOS .
