25 Jan COURT OF APPEAL CLEARS J&J OFFICERS FROM BRIBERY AND FRAUD CHARGES
The Five Member Court of Appeal Athens returned its judgment on 22.1.2024 after a multimonth trial hearing against 11 defendants involving healthcare professionals, J&J /DePuy officers, and agents on fraud, bribery and money laundering charges in relation to the purchase of orthopedic products by Greek public hospitals at allegedly inflated prices. The Appeal Court quashed the convictions by the first instance court in 2019 and acquitted all defendants. According to the judgment, the fraud charges lacked legal basis while the alleged bribes to doctors and their laundering could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt.
Johnson & Johnson had entered into a DPA with the US Department of Justice back in 2011 (Case 1:11-cr-00099-JDB) while a British former DePuy Inc. executive had entered into a plea agreement with the Serious Fraud Office on conspiracy to corrupt charges (R v Dougall [2010] EWCA Crim 1048).
Ilias Anagnostopoulos and Ioannis Tolakis, in cooperation with Colin Byrne from Howard & Byrne, advised and represented a former J&J Finance officer throughout the proceedings.
Ilias said: “We are delighted with the outcome of the appellate trial. Our client, who was wrongly convicted by the first instance court, had never knowingly participated in any bribery scheme. He is now happy to clear his name after so many years and take his life back”.