Former Investigating Magistrate Bourboulia Held in Korydallos Prison

Athens.- Former investigating magistrate Konstantina Bourboulia, whose extradition to Greece was recently ordered by a French court, arrived at Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” on board an “Air France” airliner shortly after 11 p.m. on Friday after being handed over to Greek police by the French authorities at 8.05 p.m.

Bourboulia was then taken from the airport to the Attica General Police Headquarters in Alexandras Avenue in downtown Athens where she arrived shortly after mdinight and was kept in custody there.

On Saturday evening Bourboulia was held in temporary custody at Athens’ Korydallos prison after giving testimony to Court of Appeal investigating magistrate I. Sideris. She gave a one-and-a-half-hour testimomy on charges against her regarding her involvement in a trial-fixing network. She was ruled in temporary custody with the agreed opinion of Court of Appeal public prosecutor Kyriakos Karoutsos.

From the time she stayed at the investigation office, it is believed that Bourboulia finally chose to give a formal testimony, denying the charges against her. It is expected that in the coming days she will submit to the investigating magistrate a memorandum.

She was transferred to Korydallos prison as agreement was reached for her to be sent to the women’s wing so as not to remain at the Attica General Police Headquarters until Monday. A cell has already been prepared in the wing where inmate mothers are held.

Bourboulia, the one-time Athens judicial magistrate, is one of several cashiered justices at the centre of a wide-ranging trial-fixing investigation.

In Bourboulia’s case, special appellate-level prosecutors accuse her of taking bribes to shelve probes into manipulation of the Athens Stock Exchange in the period up until roughly 1999.

The cashiered judicial official faces multiple counts of trial-fixing, bribery and money laundering in Greeece.

In another development, the Swiss authorities have given Greek justice information concerning accounts Bourboulia kept with the UBS bank. According to evidence examined by investigating magistrates so far, it appears that amounts totaling about 540,000 euros have been transferred in her controversial accounts.

Bourboulia was arrested last month in Paris on an international warrant issued by Greek authorities.