Ilias Anagnostopoulos heads Athens-based law firm Anagnostopoulos focusing on criminal and regulatory risk management and all aspects of business crime defence. He has appeared as lead counsel in most significant cases in Greece during the past 25 years including business and financial fraud, insider dealing, tax and customs fraud, money laundering, asset recovery, anti-competitive practices, corruption practices, criminal corporate liability, anti-terrorism, product criminal liability, environmental offences, medical malpractice, art crimes, mutual assistance, extradition and surrender procedures. He is regularly instructed to advise and represent leading corporations from the energy, defence, aviation, shipping, automotive, construction, financial services, raw materials, pharmaceuticals, food, health-care, tobacco, telecommunications, travel and leisure, and media sectors, as well as foreign governments and governmental organisations.
Since July 2013 Ilias chairs the Hellenic Criminal Bar Association. From 2007 to 2013 he chaired the Criminal Law Committee of the Council of the Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), Brussels and is a founder member of the European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA).
Some of Ilias's notable cases in 2017:
In December 2017 the Court of Appeal Athens acquitted Mr V, a Greek businessman accused of defrauding the National Intelligence Service in relation to the purchase of an interception system in 2007. The businessman was said to have inflated invoices issued by his company to NIS through an intermediary Cypriot company he owned.
In July 2017 the Court of Appeal Athens convicted a former minister on charges of money laundering in relation to bribes allegedly paid by Siemens in exchange for contracts. The Court acquitted Mr T, a Greek businessman and close friend of the minister who had opened a bank account in Switzerland to which the bribes were transferred. Ilias successfully argued in T's defence that he had no knowledge of the illicit origin of the money.
Mr C, a British director of a global fiduciary services company, was cleared from charges of money laundering after a multi-month trial hearing by the Court of Appeal Athens. The Court convicted eleven defendants to multi-year sentences for embezzlement totaling 256 million € against various state entities and money laundering in relation to electricity power contracts. The Court ruled that Mr C was not part of the criminal plot.
Ilias Anagnostopoulos received his education at the School of Law, National University of Athens (1978), and the J.W. Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main, Germany (Dr juris, 1982). He is an associate professor in criminal law and criminal procedure at the University of Athens, School of Law.
He sits on the editorial board of the leading criminal law journal in Greece, "Poinika Chronika", and is a regular commentator of cases offering expert opinions in domestic and cross-border proceedings. His numerous publications in Greek, English and German cover most aspects of business crimes, international and European criminal law, the reform of criminal procedure, human rights and crime policy.
Some of his publications are: One Act, Multiple Prosecutions Unlimited Sanctions? American Bar Association, 31st Annual National Institute on White Collar Crime, 2017, U11-15; The right of access to a lawyer in Europe: A long road ahead?, EuCLR 2014; Criminal justice cooperation in the EU after the first few 'steps': A defence view, ERAForum 2014.
Memberships include the Criminal Law Experts Committee of the Hellenic Ministry of Justice, High Legal-Council with the Bank of Greece, ICC-FraudNet, European Criminal Law Academic Network, International Bar Association, International Association of Penal Law, International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (international), American Bar Association (associate).
