A Greek court on Friday sentenced in absentia Artemis Sorras and his wife to eight years in prison without parole on felony charges of embezzlement.
The Patras prosecution has issued a warrant for the arrest of the two convicts, as any appeal does not have a suspensive effect.
According to a patrastimes.gr report, the plaintiff was a former business partner of Sorras who complained that the defendant stole 50,000 euros from him when the two collaborated in a playgrounds business.
Another plaintiff was Sorras’ best man, who had given the defendant a luxury car to sell, and after selling the vehicle, Sorras gave him back expired Kuwaiti dinars instead of cash.
Sorras’ best man, lawyer Fotis Lepidas, told patrastimes.gr that this was an opportunity to uncover all the frauds that Sorras had committed and the people involved.
Who is Artemis Sorras
Artemis Sorras first appeared in public life in 2013 claiming that he manages a 600-billion-dollar trust fund in U.S. state bonds that he puts at the disposal of the Greek State to repay the sovereign debt. Ironically, at the time a Greek court ruled that there is no proof that Sorras’ claims are untrue. “There is nothing that proves that the money does not exist or the falseness of the titles incorporated,” the court rule read.
The court decision gave Sorras leverage and later he formed a nationalist party entitled “Assembly of Greeks” and called on his followers to repay their debts to the state using money from his trust fund. Hundreds of Sorras’ followers submitted to tax authorities a petition that their dues to the state should be subtracted from the trust fund. This created a problem since the Sorras followers had a court document that supported their claim.
In 2016, Sorras and his party held gatherings in archaeological sites pledging allegiance to Zeus and the gods of Olympus. At the same time, hundreds of his followers armed with the 2013 court decision went to the tax authorities demanding that their dues are paid with money from the trust fund, thus creating a political problem.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
