Cypriot police quiz HSBC officials 

HSBC building

A police official says state prosecutors seeking to bring controversial banker Andreas Vgenopoulos to Cyprus to answer criminal charges are now chewing over their next move after questioning several officials of HSBC in London.

CID investigators had flown to the UK recently to meet with high ranking officials of the British multinational banking and financial services company at their headquarters in Canary Wharf.

Vgenopoulos as well as other bankers including ex-Laiki strongmen Efthymios Bouloutas and Kyriakos Mageiras and his firm MIG are on trial after a civil suit was launched against them by the Legacy Laiki administrator on charges of abuse of authority and putting Laiki at risk in order to favour MIG and violating the rights of the Laiki shareholders.

“The investigators have conducted their series of questioning in London and are now back in Cyprus,” Police Spokesperson Andreas Angelides told state radio. “The Legal Services will now decide on what direction to take with regards to the case.”

Last week, the first request to waive confidential communications, following recently amended legislation in parliament, was filed by prosecutors at a Nicosia court probing the economy meltdown trial during which the former boss of now defunct Laiki Bank, Vgenopoulos, is said by police to be implicated.

The request concerned investigations in the dealings of HSBC bank which – in 2005 – had a 21.6% stake in Laiki.

Although HSBC had conveyed its intention to raise its interest in Laiki to 51%, a move that would have given it more effective control over the bank’s board, it ended up selling all its shares in the Cypriot bank to Vgenopoulos’Marfin Financial Group (MFG) and Tosca Fund.

Shortly after, Marfin increased its share of Laiki until it was able to take control of the bank, and consolidate it with Marfin and Egnatia banks in Greece, re-branding the end product Marfin Popular Bank.

Prosecutors in the trial have had knowledge of an email concerning the sale of HSBC’s shares but had their hands tight under the old legislation. The new legislation untied their hands and investigators immediately boarded a flight for London.

Back in May last year, Vgenopoulos took a swipe at the Cyprus government boasting that he would emerge victorious from his legal battles and will force the state to pay him billions in compensation.

In response, Vgenopoulos and the other accused parties counter-sued the Cypriot government at the International Court of Arbitration and are seeking damages in excess of €1billion.

Source: In-Cyprus – Cypriot police quiz HSBC officials

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