Andreas Pittatzis gave an interview to the show Protoselidos and Andreas Dimitropoulos, regarding his involvement in the well-known Al Jazeera report on the "Golden Passports".
Initially, he stated that from the very beginning he approached the case with caution and acted in accordance with the provisions of the law.
He noted that the people who approached him presented themselves "as investor representatives and were a bit secretive," which led him to activate "the procedures provided for by law for data collection purposes."
He clarified that "a conviction alone is not a reason for a professional to tell their client to 'go away'", adding that "anyone with a conviction can make an investment provided that the money comes from legal sources".
According to Pittatzis, the issue that raised his suspicions was the refusal of the interested parties to reveal the identity of their client. “The suspicion arises from the fact that they refused to reveal the identity of their client.” Nevertheless, he stated that he followed the procedures. “On the first working day… I filed a complaint with MOKAS. Which I did on the same day… a year before the video was made public.”
When informed by Al Jazeera that it was a journalistic investigation, he responded immediately. “I was happy. Luckily I wasn’t lured into making money. Luckily I applied the one I had to apply.” He also stated that he felt confirmation of his actions, since “that sense of insecurity and suspicion that I had felt a year earlier… was confirmed. Except that they weren’t criminals. They were journalists.”
Regarding the content of the video, he said that “it was well edited, professionally edited, a conspiracy.” However, he never considered himself in danger of being convicted. “I never considered that I would go to prison. Every person knows whether or not they are corrupt.” He also emphasized that he fully cooperated with the authorities: “I myself went to the attorney general and gave them general powers of attorney. Check whatever you want… I have nothing to fear.”
Finally, he expressed bitterness about how the case was presented, but also about the public's attitude. "Even today there are people who adopt it... They told me 'you said things you shouldn't have'... They thought I had missed some words in my attempt to get a client, but not that I was corrupt."
Pittatzis described Christakis Tzovanis as a man of contribution and ethics. "...a very serious businessman, politician, with a very good image and not only in the region here, but in Cyprus in general, a man of contribution."
He did not hesitate to describe him as a "giant", not only in the business world but also in the human dimension. "Christakis Tzovanis is a giant. Not so much a business giant as a huge company. He is a giant of humanity, kindness, compassion."
Speaking about a personal moment, Pittatzis shared an incident that, as he said, left a mark on him. "When the police started questioning me, they invited me to go to his house. I went... I really remember it like a movie to this day... and they asked me to sit next to him."
"He took me by my right hand and said the following. 'My son, I started from scratch. I deserved to build a company, have children, have grandchildren. You, my son, and Antonis are young and have young children. That's why, my son, you're pushing, hand me over to the police so they can calm down."
Source: sigmalive
Watch the entire interview in the video below.
