The former vice-president of Novartis Hellas, the Greek subsidiary of the Swiss pharmaceutical multinational, appeared before a first instance court council in Athens on Tuesday, as members of the latter are tasked with ratifying a prosecutor’s order preventing him from exiting the country.
Konstantinos Frouzis has been indicted on a felony charge of bribery, related to an ongoing and politically explosive case involving alleged kickbacks and price-fixing by Novartis in the Greek market.
In an somewhat unexpected turn, attorneys representing the ex-Novartis Hellas executive said he will ask that the travel ban be ratified.
Frouzis’ attorneys said their client does not want to leave even the slightest suspicion that he’s interested in leaving the country, but rather that “he is at the disposal of judicial authorities”.
