The trial for the big case of the falsified data of Folli Follie has begun before the Three-member Court of Criminal Appeals and the manipulation of its stock which allegedly cost tens of millions of euros to individuals and legal entities.

More than six years since the filing of a case file on the company’s tactics in order to appear strong and strengthen its position, the trial for the “scandal” which took on international dimensions and concerns damage of more than 400 million eurosstarted today and will continue on September 27th.

The members of the family of the founders of the Group, considered as the main defendants in the case, were present in the courtroom. Dimitris Koutsolioutsos, his wife Kaiti and their son Georgios Koutsolioutsos. Along with them, six other persons are on trial out of a total of twelve included in the indictment, to whom, on a case-by-case basis, serious charges are assigned. In the court today it was requested that one more person, a resident of Hong Kong, be added to the list of defendants. However, the request was not accepted by the court, at the suggestion of the district attorney who raised objections.

The “Folli Follie Scandal” the main defendants in the case file are the founder of the Group Dimitris Koutsolioutsos and his son George, who remained temporarily detained for the case for almost 18 months and were released from prison in February 2022. According to the accusation, father and son ran a criminal organization that for a number of years and with the vehicle of subsidiaries of the FF Group in Asia, he presented a strong image of the company through fictitious transactions and fake bank data, ultimately misleading investors. The case file states that the protagonists of the case reaped profits from the manipulation of the folli follie stock which then “legalized” ended up in the family property and in foreign accounts.

Today in court with the start of the trial, the names of more than 30 witnesses who will be called to testify at the trial were announced.

Today’s session was devoted to the issue of supporting statements for the prosecution, with one of the dominant issues being whether the temporary management of the Folli Follie company, which had not been accepted in the previous court as it was judged that it had not suffered damage from the actions of its executives at the time. The question before the court was whether requests to appear in support of the charge should be resubmitted in the trial that begins, or whether the earlier decision, in the trial that had begun in early 2022 and after 22 sessions was led to an adjournment by order of the court, also binds the present court.

Despite the opinion of the prosecutor – who decided that the requests for performances should not be submitted again – the court decided that the process of legalizing the performances in support of the accusation should be done again from the beginning.

So on September 27, when the process will continue, it will be examined who will stand against the accused. It should be noted that in the trial that had started in 2022, the representations of the Capital Market Commission, two banks, EFKA and EOPPY of the Hellenic Holdings & Property Company SA had been accepted. (EESYP) and some investors.

The defendants will be tried on the following charges:

1. The criminal organization (formation, management, membership).

2. Forgery (and forgery), jointly and severally with a total benefit and corresponding loss of more than 120,000 euros.

3) Fraud by complicity and by follow-up (and the synergy), against natural and legal persons, NPID and NPDD.

4. The joint, professional and subsequent manipulation of the market (and the synergy thereof).

5. Laundering of proceeds from criminal activities by complicity and by continuation.

The founder of the company, Dimitris Koutsoliutsos, will also be tried on the additional criminal charge of abuse of privileged information by follow-up and by profession.

The legal case of Folli Follie started a few days after the publication of the report of the international fund QCM which on May 4, 2018 informed that it found serious issues with the financial data of FFG, its sales points as well as the Asian subsidiaries of the Group which were showing huge turnovers. The fund’s report considered that the Group founded by Dimitris Koutsoliutsos is significantly smaller than the displayed image. The judicial and financial investigation that followed revealed that the company for a number of years, starting in 2001 and according to the case file since 2006, displayed fictitious sales and bank data with alleged amounts in accounts, using the Asian arm and succeeding in displaying a dynamic and robust condition for the company listed on the Stock Exchange and through the manipulation of its stock, ultimately to prosper the finances of the founders’ family.