Ex-boss of loans scandal bank to be deported back to Greece
Former chief executive arrested in Turkey is due to be sent back to Greece to face fraud charges
The former boss of the Hellenic Postbank, which is mired in an unsecured loans scandal, will be deported to Greece after his arrest in Turkey, the Greek authorities said.
His lawyer, Thanassis Varlamis, said that the former chief executive had appeared before a Turkish magistrate on Saturday and asked to return to his country to face questioning.
The deportation was approved and could take between two and 40 days, according to the Greek consulate.
Filippidis has previously denied any wrongdoing.
"All the loans were issued with unanimous decisions by the board and all the procedures were respected," Filippidis said on Thursday. "If I could turn back time, I would issue them again today," he said.
He also claimed the Hellenic Postbank's bad loan ratio was far lower than that of other bigger Greek banks. An unsecured loan is particularly advantageous to the borrower since no guarantee or collateral is required. A total of 25 have been charged, four of whom have already been arrested in Greece, in a probe into losses by the bank of over €400 million (HK$4.2 billion). Among those charged is Anastasia Sakellariou, the head of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund, which is responsible for maintaining the stability of the Greek banking system.