[InTimeNews]
The founder of the soup kitchen “O Allos Anthropos” (The Other Person), Konstantinos Polychronopoulos, along with his mother and brother-in-law, were released following their testimony on Wednesday.
Polychronopoulos is also subject to a travel ban, prohibiting him from leaving the country.
The defendants face charges of participation in a criminal organization and money laundering, accused of allegedly embezzling €650,000 in donations.
During his testimony, Polychronopoulos denied all charges against him, insisting that all transactions in the NGO’s accounts were “legal.” He also requested that the charges be reclassified from felonies to misdemeanors. He is accused of using the money for gambling, a claim he also denied.
His two co-defendants also rejected the allegations. His brother-in-law stated that he never withdrew or handled money beyond his legal salary and claimed that he merely followed the NGO founder’s instructions.
“I had no actual control over my own account. Polychronopoulos, after asking for my ‘help’ and taking possession of one of my debit cards, was able to conduct any transactions he wanted,” he said, adding that he never requested details about the amounts moving through his account.