George Koskotas (Greek: Γιώργος Κοσκωτάς; born 5 October 1954, Athens) is a former banker and publisher who spearheaded a financial scandal that brought down the PASOK government in 1989.
[1] He emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1970 and worked for his father's house painting business in Queens, New York until 1979 when he returned to Greece.
From there, he claimed that prime minister Andreas Papandreou ordered state companies to deposit funds with the bank, and took bribes from stolen money.
[7] Papandreou was cleared of all charges by the Supreme Court in 1992 (with a 7 to 6 vote)[6] On October 20, 1988, Koskotas was indicted on five counts of forgery and embezzlement and was suspended from the position of bank chairman.
On November 24, Koskotas and his family were apprehended by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Bedford, Massachusetts after landing in a private jet at Hanscom Field.