On September 15th, the Greek authorities hear the extradition case against prime suspect in the Laiki banking collapse Efthymios Bouloutas, said Attorney-General Costas Clerides.

It’s out of the Cypriot authorities’ hands at this stage, although many steps have been taken, he added.

A warrant for Laiki’s ex-chairman Andreas Vgenopoulos is still being processed through Greece’s court system.

There are 30 investigators, including forensic accountants, looking into the mismanagement of the economy and banking sector during the AKEL era.

Since the crash, there are new laws to strength the state’s ability to confiscate assets gained through corruption, while protecting whistle-blowers. The number of reported cases in 2015 rose to 27 from 14 in 2014 and they are all under investigation.

Laiki Bank imploded in March 2013, leaving thousands of savers stranded and shutting down the rest of the banking system for over two weeks.

Charges are also expected to be lodged against other former top officials in the ex-Laiki bank, which sucked up nine billion euros of the ECB’s Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) between May 2012 and February 2013 before going bankrupt. During this period it was directly under the communist government’s administration.

Assets frozen

Nicosia district court has issued an earlier order against Vgenopoulos and Efthymios Bouloutas after a lawsuit was filed against the two bankers by the administrator of of Laiki Bank freezing Vgenopoulos’ assets, which total 3.79 billion euros. The court order forbids Marfin Investment Group, which had merged with Laiki, from transferring any of these assets outside Cyprus.

The businessman’s reaction to his legal woes has been typically explosive, and he referred to abusive lawsuits, unauthorised Cyprus courts, legal acrobatics and arbitrariness. The truth will shine in the International Court of Arbitration, he said in a statement. His reputation will be vindicated after the court case, he said.

Controversial

Vgenopoulos joined Laiki Bank after it merged with the Greek firm Marfin Egnatia, but the troubled merger fell apart after the Greek debt haircut, in which Laiki lost 1.8 billion euros in just one year. The businessman left Laiki in November 2011, and it was subsequently nationalised after turning to the state for financial support. At the time he left Laiki, Vgenopoulos still owned a 28 percent stake in the bank.

The banking tycoon has been widely blamed in the media for allowing Laiki to continue to invest in Greek bonds, even though Greece was in significant financial trouble as of 2009. Under Vgenopoulos’ administration in 2011, Laiki Bank had already borrowed 2.5 billion euros, plus another 3.8 billion in other facilities provided by the ECB, said finance ministry general director Christos Patsalides. This is according to testimony he gave to a government probe into the island’s current economic collapse.

Be connected with Cyprus! Join CNR News Club for updates on articles and blogs!