On November 13, 2019, the Ministry of Justice submitted a bill to amend the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure (Law 4637/2019 | Government Gazette 180 Α’/18.11.2019). Article 9 paragraph 2 of this law provided that those accused of criminal fraud and money laundering could recover their frozen assets if they are not brought to trial within 18 months .
First of all, it should be noted that the above regulation was not included in the original bill and was not submitted to public consultation. On the contrary, it was incorporated into the bill through the submission of an overdue and illegal amendment by the Minister of Justice, Kostas Tsiaras. Although Article 74 paragraph 5 of the Constitution, and Articles 87, 88 and 101, paragraph 5 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament stipulate that amendments must be submitted three days before the beginning of the debate in the plenary or the competent parliamentary committee, the amendment was submitted the night before the bill was to be voted on.
However, a report in the Financial Times shows that this regulation runs contrary to international practices in the fight against money laundering. The report claims that, according to both the international authority on anti-money laundering, the Financial Action Task Force and the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), assets (money and real estate) seized during a criminal trial should remain frozen and not returned to their owners until the trial is completed.
According to members of the Athens Bar Association, a criminal trial typically lasts three to five years in Greece in the first instance, while it may take as long to issue a decision in the second instance. The new law therefore allows the release of assets in cases of fraud and money laundering typically before the trial process has been completed.
The Financial Times noted that, “Among those set to benefit from the move are a dozen Greek shipowners, prominent business people and former bankers under investigation for breach of trust and money laundering. While their assets were frozen between two and seven years ago, none of the accused have ever appeared in court.”
On 18 December 2019, the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) published a report on Greek legislation tackling corruption. Although GRECO stated that it had not had time to study the amendment limiting the time period that assets may be frozen for in these cases in this report, it stressed the need for Greece to comply with the relevant international standards against money laundering and the fight against terrorist financing. These standards also contribute to the effective fight against corruption, they underline.
A state governed by the rule of law must, following international best practice, provide for effective measures to combat money laundering and corruption.
However, according to the Financial Times, in this case the Greek government passed legislation that leads in the exact opposite direction, allowing those accused of fraud and money laundering to regain access to assets before the Court decides whether they were acquired through criminal activity.
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