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Political and legal thriller… with a story of centuries that resembles a movie script. This is how one can describe the infamous investment of the Pimana company, interests of the former emir of Qatar, near the famous Navagio beach of Zakynthos. An investment that, despite the drumbeats from the Greek media, should never have been made. This is because, based on the decree of the Council of Delinquents of Athens issued a few days ago, it is proven that the disputed area – which includes the island of Agios Ioannis – was never owned by Giorgos Haros, the alleged owner. In the will, it is analyzed how the disputed title deeds invoked by Mr. Haros – dating back to the time of the Venetian Republic – were false, which resulted in the main owners of the land, namely the Greek government and two adjacent holy monasteries, losing approx. 17.2 million euros.
As clearly analyzed in the will, Pimana’s representative Tzoumana Behara, G. Haros and the notary Nicoletta Gyftopoulou who drew up the disputed notarial acts acted fraudulently. The seven defendants are referred to be tried either as natural or as moral perpetrators for acts – due to the alleged amount of the financial damage to the public the charges are felony – concerning, among other things, false certification to the detriment of the public on a continuing basis, joint moral perpetration and fraud jointly at the expense of the public. The judicial development of the case is of great interest. Until then, however, what is described in the will and which led to the famous sale are of similar interest. It is interesting because, among other things, it outlines how … big investments are quite often made in Greece today.
On November 13, 2014, the Holy Diocese of Zakynthos and Strofados and the Holy Monastery of Agios Georgios of Krimna – legally represented by the Metropolitan of Zakynthos – submitted through lawyer Mr Dionysios. Gousko a petition to the prosecutor of the Supreme Court, since the purchase and sale of a land area of 14,387,000 sq.m. included the property of the two monasteries. In the resolution of the Council of Delinquents of Athens it is stated that the alleged owner of the area – and now accused – G. Haros is not “master of this area”.
A Judicial merry-go-round.
Therefore, according to what is mentioned in the will 3189/2022 of the Council of Criminal Procedures of Athens, which Documento has at its disposal in its entirety, the Athens Prosecutor’s Office of First Instance quickly investigated the case and filed it after a file sent by the Prosecutor’s Office of Zakynthos, which had intervened ex officio on the occasion of complaints about the fraud by the lawyer Dionysos Gouskos.
At the same time, on November 13, 2014, the Holy Diocese of Zakynthos and Strofados and the Holy Monastery of Agios Georgios of Krimna – legally represented by the Metropolitan of Zakynthos – submitted through lawyer Dionysios Gouskos suing reports to the prosecutor of the Supreme Court. The disputed report was forwarded to the Financial Crimes Prosecutor’s Office (headed at the time by Panagiotis Athanasiou) and following the conclusion of the then Deputy Financial Crimes Prosecutor Galinos Bris, which was formed on October 27, 2016, the specific case file was filed with regard to one subject and the withdrawal of the first case was ordered case file by the Athens District Attorney’s Office “due to new factual circumstances”, as well as the initiation of criminal prosecution against the current seven defendants in the persons case. The main investigation was carried out by an anti-corruption investigator and after its completion, the case file was introduced following a relevant prosecutorial proposal of 2019 – scandalously exonerated by prosecutor Karamanoli for all the accused, for all acts – for the attention of the Athens Criminal Council.
However, on the basis of a thorough resolution of 2020 drawn up by the Council of Misdemeanors of Athens, a further investigation was ordered. When this was completed, the long-suffering case file was forwarded again to the Council of Misdemeanors of Athens, which published on September 13, 2022 the referral will.
“Selling without owning the land”
The 2014 complaint of the Holy Diocese of Zakynthos and Strofados and the Holy Monastery of Agios Georgios of the Krimna was submitted because of the bill of sale drawn up by the accused notary Nicoletta Gyftopoulou. The sale in question concerned the transfer due to the sale of a land area of 14,387,000 sq.m. in the municipal unit of the New Municipality of Zakynthos. The disputed sale was carried out by the defendant G. Haro to the company Pimana (Pimana) Real Estate Company, interests of the family of the former emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani.
According to what is mentioned in the will, G. Haros, who carried out the disputed sale on May 17, 2014 to Jumana Behara as the legal representative, president and managing director of the company Pimana, “claimed ownership of the above land area based on disputed title deeds, of which reference was made in the above contract”. However, he did this without “being the owner of this area, which actually belonged to a part of the 3,400 sq.m. in the Holy Monastery of Agios Georgios of Krimna, as well as in other parts of it, to the State, that it includes buildings, including a declared monument, namely the old Monastery of Agios Georgios, that the nature of the area is mainly forest and even reforestable and that public servants are responsible for this irregular transfer by actions and omissions”.
“The legacy was not described in detail”
In the contract drawn up by the two sides, the objective value of the property was calculated “at the amount of 17,221,991.256 euros, while the total agreed price of 9,000,000 euros was paid by the buyer to the seller in full and in full payment…”. About two months earlier the accused notary Nickoletta Gyftopoulou drew up a deed of acceptance of inheritances (from autographed wills), by which the accused G. Haros “re-accepted as the testamentary heir of the deceased, on 5-9-1989, the aunt of Sophia Angelakopoulou-Flamburiaris, the burdened in that inheritance of her father Andreas Flabouriaris of Stylianos, who passed away in 1961…”.
At the same time, G. Haros “accepted the disputed property area of 14,387.40 acres (as it is described in the March 2014 topographical diagram of the agronomist surveyor engineer-7th defendant Georgios Vassilakis), except for the small island (s.s.: Agios John), for which he reserved to accept it in the future”. In the testament of Andreas Flambouriaris published in 1961, it was stated that he “bequeathed as his heirs, among others, his daughter Sophia and his wife Nicoletta”. G Haros accepted the inheritance of his aunt Sophia – by virtue of the deceased’s autographed will – in 1989. The disputed inheritance included, among other things, a farm of 79,000 sq.m.
However, as mentioned above, G. Haros, through the 2014 act of declaration of acceptance of inheritances, “re-accepted the inheritance of Andreas Flabouriaris, because, as stated in this act, the encumbered inheritance had not been described in detail in the previous no. 46.680/1961 deed of the notary of Athens…”.
“He drew up a different text of the will”
What is even more important is that through his self-written will Nickolaos. Flabouriaris in 1880 “distributed his estates to his wife Pigis Dakouros and after her death to his brother Stylianos, and his wife subsequently transferred the usufruct of them to the heir Stylianos Flambouriaris by will. However, as the aforementioned testator died without a male to continue, the public paternal right over the property of Anafonitria Monastery was extinguished with his death and it could not be legally transferred due to hereditary succession to Pigi Dakourou…”. Besides, “with the death of Nikolaos Flambouriaris, who died without having a son (as appears from the text of his will), the public patronage right of the Flambouriaris family was extinguished, and the ownership of the Anafonitria Monastery over its estates was not subject to anyone restriction”.
In the will it is also stated that in the 2014 act of declaration of acceptance of inheritances “it is falsely confirmed that the disputed area is described in the public documents referred to therein, since neither its boundaries nor its total area can be identified from their content”. It is also worth mentioning that in none of the titles presented by G. Haros, “there was no mention of an area of 14,467.49 acres, nor were its boundaries clearly defined, so that it could be identified, nor was there a continuous succession of titles”.
At the same time, in the conclusion of October 27, 2016 of the deputy economic crime prosecutor, on the basis of which the criminal prosecution was brought, it is stated, among other things, that the provision of the 1960 will referred “to the testator’s wife, Nicoletta, and not to his daughter, Sofia, and therefore the drawn up notary-1st defendant Nicoletta Gyftopoulou deliberately chose to omit copying from the text of the autobiographical will the sentence referring to his testator wife, Nicoletta… The drawn up notary drew up a new text, different from that of the autobiographical will…”.
The whole article can be read in Greek on this link → Navagio of Zakynthos
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