The Greek Parliament will have to deal with allegations of corruption against local politicians in relation to alleged favors granted to the Basel multinational.
ATHENS - In the coming months, the Greek Parliament will have to deal with allegations of corruption against various local politicians in relation to alleged favors granted to the Basel-based multinational Novartis which could have continued to sell its products in the Mediterranean country at higher prices.
"Justice will hand over the files today," Greek justice minister Stavros Kontonis told state television. According to his own words we would be facing the biggest scandal since the foundation of modern Greece.
"On the other hand, it is only a matter of defamation", replied the former head of the Greek government, Antonis Samaras, whose name is on the list of those politicians suspected of being embroiled in the scandal.
Novartis allegedly bribed Samaras and nine other Greek politicians, as well as thousands of doctors, to raise the price of its medicines and to obtain preferential avenues for rapid authorization of its products in order to dominate the local market.
After months of investigation, the Greek justice must deliver the documents to the parliament, since the politicians involved enjoy immunity. The Chamber will then have to decide, and it will take several months, whether the investigators can continue to investigate. The branch of the multinational explained that it intends to cooperate with the Greek justice system.
The Basel-based pharmaceutical giant has been the subject of an investigation in Athens since 2016. Last April, the Greek justice minister claimed that Novartis had probably bribed "thousands" of doctors and officials to promote its products in Greece.
Numerous people were questioned as part of the investigation. Anti-corruption prosecutors raided Novartis premises near Athens in early 2017. One of the leaders of the group in Greece, who was questioned as part of the investigation, had attempted suicide on New Year's Day 2016.
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