Are any prosecutors listening?

By Lefteris Charalambopoulos

It was in this manner that the former CEO of DEPA (Public Gas Corporation), Theodoros  Kitsakos , described the behaviour  of Manolis Petsitis –  a one-time classmate of Digital Policy Minister Nikos Pappas –  the man who after a stint at the PM’s office found himself being remunerated by businessmen such as Lavrentis Lavrentiadis, even as he declared right and left that he is the “Maximos Mansion’s man”.

If one takes into account that we are dealing with a man about whom it was written that he once forgot his jacket at a restaurant and the waiters found that it was full of 500-euro bills, and that another time traffic police stopped him, only to find that he was carrying a large sum in 500-euro bills, once can see that we are dealing with a serious issue.

In that context, more and more questions arise about the role of Mr. Petsitis and about his “special relationship” with the PM’s office.

·        How is it that someone on the payroll of a businessman like Lavrentis Lavrentiadis was visiting DEPA in an “official capacity” at a time when Lavrentiadis had a huge debt to the company?

·        Why did he create a stock company named “Palaia Prosfygika Alexandras [Old Refugee Residential Buildings on Alexandras Avenue in Athens] after a bill regarding the exploitation of these buildings was passed by parliament?

·        What exactly is his relationship with the PM’s office and how could he have paid visits in an “official capacity” even as he formally provided services to businessmen?

·        What is his relationship with Nikos Pappas?

Until now, both the prime minister and Nikos Pappas have chosen to remain silent on the substance of the affair, as they preferred to launch attacks and wave the front pages of newspapers with stories that they describe as fake news, thus dodging the issue.

This tactic cannot go on much longer, as more and more evidence is surfacing, answers are required, and at some point they will have to deal with the affair.

Is it not about time for Tsipras and Pappas to change course and take action so that all the evidence may be handed over to the judiciary and to the public?

Is it not about time that everything comes to light about Petsitis, about his role and relationship with both SYRIZA and specific business interests?

Is it not about time that someone answer the question of whether Petsitis acted as a “cashier”, a necessary intermediary in the trail of “black” political money.

We will not stop investigating the affair, publishing all the evidence we find, and insisting that the judiciary must take up the case.

The “moral advantage” of the left that the government invokes cannot be used to mock the entire country.