Nearly five years after it became known that Stupidity Stupidity has falsified its financial statements, is in a race to resolve the case before the statute of limitations expires for crimes that accuse a total of 13 people, including the founder of the company Dimitris Koutsoliutsos and his son George.

The trial was supposed to start in January 2022, but did not take place due to the absence of lawyers for trials in the case of a criminal organization. Due to the risk of expiration of the statute of limitations, Athens Bar Association (DSA) decided to allow its members to attend this trial, which will resume on 19 June. Contingent limitation period this would deal a severe blow to the prestige of the Greek capital market.

Immediate risk of expiration of the statute of limitations on the Folley Folley claim

Joanna Mandrow

Given the risk of statute of limitations on a number of offenses related to the criminal case in the Folley Folley trial, it is expected that the upcoming trial, barring unforeseen circumstances, will finally take place as according to “K” The Athens Bar Association is about to allow lawyers to finally attend the relevant procedure.

The Folley-Folley trial has long been “dead” as lawyers have withdrawn from trials for crimes such as organized crime due to legal disputes they have raised over the law’s provision that any sentences will be handed down. even several months in prison. they will be served, that is, the accused will go to jail.

Finally, as everything shows, if something does not change, the trial will continue and take place next June, because. as DSA President Dimitris Vervezos told K.“The Athens Bar has decided to allow its lawyer members to be present at the pending trial because of the imminent danger of statute of limitations for certain offences.”

Incredible delays

The Folley-Folley trial, which began more than a year ago, was essentially “inactive” for several months, as the court rose to sit, but the lawyers, as happens in other trials, did not appear, continuing to refrain from their duties in court. lawsuits for crimes such as a criminal organization.

Lawyers withdrew from trials involving crimes such as organized crime due to legal wrangling.

But also Ministry of Justice for his part, he has long failed to formulate any legislative proposal that could satisfy the lawyers and return them to hearings, as a result of which the Folley-Folley trial has long gone into a real swamp.

Before this impasse, the President of the Court, Maria Andreopoulou, made an unprecedented decision in judicial history in December last year, unable to continue the trial, stop the process, which was already dead, and postpone the trial until June. The president, who made a splash with her decision, stressed, in justifying the court’s decision to postpone the trial, the danger of the statute of limitations running out if the situation persists, since, as she said, there are actions in the case at hand that will soon end. prohibited, with what it could mean for the effective administration of justice…

“We are hostage,” the president emphasized at the time when she postponed the trial until next June, stressing that “we also cannot consider other cases,” while she spoke of “an extremely serious litigation for domestic law and order.” , with an international negative impact”, which has not actually been carried out for a long time.

In the court’s decision, its president placed the responsibility primarily on the bar, which had gone into lengthy abstinence, canceling some serious criminal trials, and the president also cited the court’s large and coordinated efforts to grant lawyers permission. cases by the competent bar associations to which they belong for the conduct of the trial, as well as to the denials of the bar associations which the court has collected from time to time …

The court then adjourned the case until June next year, and in addition to President Maria Andreopoulos, the court includes plaintiffs Giorgos Grivas and Anastasia Siomou.

The trial is taking place in the Tripartite Court of Appeal for Criminal Cases, where the case under consideration with the main defendants Dimitris and Tsortsis Koutsolyutsos is heard, and in total 13 people are sitting on the dock with accusations of falsifying balance sheets, financial crimes and charges of criminal organization.

A possible statute of limitations will seriously affect the image of the country

Ilias Bellos

Further deterioration of the already problematic image that exists in the international markets for the speed of justice in Greece will lead to a possible statute of limitations for the offenses of the Koutsolutsou family in connection with the Folli Follie scandal.

The well-known case in international markets, when the shareholders and creditors of Folli Follie included large institutional and private foreign investors, remains at the center of their attention, despite the fact that five years have passed since the scandal began.

London fund managerinterrogated in the Folly Folly case “TO” and the possibility of setting a statute of limitations for the claims of the protagonists of the scandal, argues that such “would be tantamount to reversing the deterrent-preventive power of the rule of law and a blow to the image of Greece in the international markets.”

The case is of immediate interest to international institutional investors who do not have the best idea of ​​the speed of justice in Greece.

Such as explain “K” from other market sources, from Greece and abroad, “many people have lost a lot of money in the Folli Follie case, and therefore it is difficult to claim that the case is forgotten, especially if reports of the statute of limitations of the Kutsolutsov family crimes begin to appear.” Perhaps it is characteristic that at the beginning of the summer of 2018, when two Greek roadshows took place, in London and New York, the set of questions received from foreign analysts by representatives of Greek companies did not concern the size and prospects of their group, but the Folly Folly problem. At that time, the scandal dealt a serious blow to the credibility of the Athens Stock Exchange and the then administration of the Capital Market Commission, and subsequently to the audit, supervisory and government bodies.

Most surveys conducted among potential and existing investors in Greece from abroad cite delays in resolving civil disputes as one of the main factors hindering placement in the country. However, the time needed to resolve criminal cases, which often involve civil disputes, is also a concern. This problem is on the agenda of both large Greek companies and their representative bodies.

In Greece, the final resolution of a legal dispute for businesses exceeds 4.5 years (2020 data), according to a special study by the Association of Business and Industry (SEB) published in October 2022. time in the EU 27 (more than twice as long as in Portugal and Slovakia, which have significantly accelerated the digitalization of systems and are now approaching the European AD) makes it difficult for the daily life of Greek businesses, but also the investment competitiveness of the economy,” the study says. characteristically states.