GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Ilias Anagnostopoulos and Alexandros Tsagkalidis, Anagnostopoulos
7.3 Jurisdictional Reach of Enforcement Bodies Jurisdiction rules are set out expressly by the Greek Code of Criminal Procedure and are obligatory. Depending on the place where the offence was com - mitted, the corresponding Prosecutor’s Office will initially have jurisdiction over the case. It should, however, be noted that the Prosecutor’s Office for Financial and Economic Crime may claim jurisdic - tion over major corruption and bribery cases. In such instances, they will handle the case during the prelimi - nary inquiry; however, at later stages of the criminal proceedings, jurisdiction will return to the competent criminal authorities (eg, the investigating judge, the judicial council and the court) of the place of the com - mission of the offence. Moreover, it should be highlighted that the prosecut - ing authorities may also proceed with overseas mutual legal assistance requests with the aim of retrieving information located abroad, as well as with spontane - ous exchange of information with their corresponding authorities. 7.4 Discretion for Mitigation and Aggravation Article 263A provides for leniency for individuals who inform and/or assist the prosecuting authorities on corruption cases, depending on the procedural stage of the case and on the level of their assistance. Nota - bly, if, during the investigation, the perpetrator of an act of bribery contributes substantial information regarding the participation of a public official, they will receive a reduced, or even suspended, sentence. 7.5 Recent Landmark Investigations or Decisions Based on the findings of a financial investigation con - ducted by third parties, it was revealed that, from 2001 to 2017, the management of a Greek-based interna - tional company that designs, manufactures and dis - tributes luxury jewellery and watches had falsified its financial statements by inflating its sales, profits and equity through virtual purchases and sales. These fictitious transactions allegedly took place between 27 companies in different parts of the world, mainly in Asia. After a multi-month trial hearing before the Court of Appeal of Athens, sitting as a first instance court on 26 June 2024, five individuals, including the
former chairman and the CEO of the company, were found guilty of fraud, market manipulation and money laundering, while six other defendants were acquitted on all charges. Other major investigations have been conducted in relation to multinational companies that have report - edly been systematically giving money to public offi - cials to secure awards of multimillion-euro government contracts in respect of advanced communication sys - tems, medical supplies and military expenditure (such as Siemens, Johnson & Johnson/DePuy, HDW/Ferro - staal and STN). Investigations have also targeted acts of corruption of former government officials in rela - tion to facilitating payments and tax fraud schemes through real estate deals. 7.6 Level of Sanctions Imposed If an individual is convicted, the court has a broad margin in deciding their sentence. The length of the sentence depends on a variety of “personal” factors, such as the individual’s role in the criminal act, their criminal past, their family and personal status, etc. The amount of the bribe and the reason for which the bribe was given or promised is also taken into consideration. Although the GCC does not establish detailed duties to prevent corruption, Articles 236 paragraph 3, 237 paragraph 3 and 159A paragraph 3 of the GCC pro - vide for the punishment of company executives, or any other persons with decision-making or super - visory powers within the company, who fail through negligence to prevent acts of corruption. Moreover, the need to comply with stricter regulations and the changes taking place in all aspects of corporate activi - ties have led to significant changes in the way organi - sations deal with such matters. Organisations recog - nise that detecting and exposing corruption practices help to reduce and/or eliminate market distortions and improve business practices. Moreover, Law 4706/2020 On Corporate Governance and Capital Market Modernisation stipulates that a 8. Compliance Expectations 8.1 Compliance Obligations
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