GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Ilias Anagnostopoulos and Alexandros Mezari, Anagnostopoulos
3. White-Collar Offences 3.1 Criminal Company Law and Corporate Fraud Important white-collar offences related to companies include the following. Fraud (Article 386 of the Greek Penal Code) Fraud is committed when a person knowingly repre - sents untrue facts as being true, or unlawfully con - ceals or suppresses true facts, and in this way per - suades another to act, omit or tolerate, thus damaging a person’s property, in order to gain an illegal financial advantage for themselves or others. Fraud is punished by imprisonment of up to five years; if the damage caused is major, the sanction is impris - onment of at least three months (up to five years) and a monetary penalty. If the pecuniary damage exceeds EUR120,000, imprisonment of up to ten years and a monetary penalty shall be imposed. If the fraud is directed directly against the Greek State, legal entities governed by public law or municipal authorities, and the damage exceeds EUR120,000, imprisonment of between ten and 20 years and a monetary penalty shall be imposed. Embezzlement (Article 375 of the Greek Penal Code) Embezzlement is the unlawful appropriation of anoth - er person’s movable property that came into the offender’s possession in any way. In such cases, the perpetrator shall be punished with imprisonment of up to two years; if the movable property is of particu - larly high value, the sanction is imprisonment of at least three months (up to five years) and a monetary penalty. If the movable property has been entrusted to the per - petrator out of necessity or because of their capac - ity as an agent, trustee, guardian or administrator of another person’s property, the perpetrator shall be punished with imprisonment of between one and five years and a monetary penalty. If the value of the mov - able property exceeds EUR120,000, imprisonment of up to ten years and a monetary penalty shall be imposed.
electronic correspondence) covered by the attorney- client privilege, which is strongly protected in Greece. 2.6 Prosecution The right to prosecute a person for a criminal offence falls under the competence of the Public Prosecutor. According to the principle of legality, the Prosecutor has a duty to prosecute if there is sufficient incrimi - nating evidence after the completion of the prelimi - nary investigation. For serious crimes, the Prosecutor orders a formal investigation, while for misdemean - ours he/she refers the defendant to a criminal court. However, there are some exceptions to the principle of legality, as follows. • Before prosecution, the Public Prosecutor has the power to dismiss the case due to lack of evidence or on legal grounds. • In limited circumstances, he/she may refrain from prosecuting a minor misdemeanour. He/she may also, exceptionally, refrain from prosecuting an offence in cases of extortion or fraud against the alleged perpetrator of the offence in question, if (in both cases) the latter is of minor importance and the public interest does not require prosecution. • Whistle-blowers may also be protected from crimi - nal prosecution under certain conditions, in cases of corruption. • A conditional refrainment from prosecution is per - mitted for specific misdemeanours, if the suspect agrees to fulfil certain obligations, such as the payment of an amount to a charity or public benefit organisation or the full compensation of the victim. • For certain serious financial crimes, such as embezzlement, fraud or breach of trust, the Pros - ecutor may also refrain from prosecution if the suspect agrees to fully compensate the victim, etc. 2.7 Deferred Prosecution Deferred prosecution agreements and non-prosecu - tion agreements are not available under Greek law. However, the Public Prosecutor may refrain from pros - ecution in certain circumstances (see 2.6 Prosecu- tion ).
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