Biography
George Koskotas was a New York con artist who fled the United States for Greece in 1979 after he was caught attempting to falsify unemployment insurance claims and obtain tax refunds from fictitious workers of his fathers house painting business. After arriving in Greece he forged a degree to get hired at a bank and within 7 years he scammed his way into becoming the head of the bank and one of the country's richest men. Due to his close ties with the Greek Socialist Government the CIA began an operation to lure Koskotas back into the United States hoping his arrest would cause a scandal that would bring about the collapse of the Socialist government in Greece. Koskotas was invited to the White House to meet with President Regan and arrested there. While in police custody Koskatas claimed that prime minister Andreas Papandreou ordered state companies to deposit funds with the bank he ran, and took bribes from stolen money. Koskatas allegation's led to the ruling Socialist party being roundly defeated at the June 1989 elections and Papandreou being criminally indicted for corruption.
NPPC condemns the criminal actions of George Koskatas but due to the political nature of his prosecution we've determined he fits the definition of a political prisoner.