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Former Cyprus Interior Minister Dinos Michaelides and his son have been handed down 15 year prison sentences each by a court in Greece on Wednesday, having earlier found them guilty of bribes and money laundering, over an arms deal involving former Greek Defense Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos, who is already serving time.
The court also sentenced Syrian businessman Fuad Al Zayiad to life in prison for bribery and 17 years for money laundering.
The six defendants in the case, including Michaelides and his son, were found guilty of being involved in money laundering and bribes related to Greece’s purchase of the Tor-M1 surface-to-air missile batteries, also known by NATO as the SA-15 “Gauntlet”.
The court in Athens said in its deliberations that the defendants “are the perpetrators of the actions for which they have been accused,” prompting the defence lawyers to file a motion for leniency, citing honesty and good behaviour as mitigating circumstances. The motion was rejected.
The Russian-made air defence systems were reportedly built for Greece, which now has 25 batteries, while Cyprus has six.
Russia also delivered an unspecified number of batteries, believed to be around 30, to Iran at a cost of $700 mln.
Michaelides and his son are suspected to have acted as agents for Tsohatzopoulos who allegedly maintained Cyprus-registered offshore companies and received kickbacks of about €7.7 mln (approx. $8.7 mln) for the Greek purchase of the missiles.
Tsohatzopoulos was arrested in April 2012 on money laundering charges in the biggest scandal in Greece involving a politician. On October 2013 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
His cousin, businessman Nicos Zigras, testified to Greek authorities last year that Michaelides transferred cash linked to the acquisition of the missile systems, according to the Cyprus Mail.
Dinos Michaelides was forced to step down as interior minister in 1999 during Glafcos Clerides’ administration after ombudswoman Eliana Nicolaou questioned planning changes to a property which Michaelides bought and built a luxury home on.
Michaelides, who also served as Interior Minister for Spyros Kyprianou from 1985 to 1988, said at the time he was being “defamed”.
