Two former protected witnesses in a Greek bribery scandal involving Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis were convicted Tuesday of giving false testimony, the Athens News Agency reported.
An Athens court sentenced Filistoras Destabasidis and Maria Maragueli to suspended sentences of 25 and 28 months, respectively, it said.
The bribery scandal erupted in Greece a decade ago with allegations that Novartis bribed Greek decision-makers and doctors between 2006 and 2015 to secure inflated prices for its products even though cheaper alternatives were available.
Part of the Novartis probe took place in the United States, where the company in 2020 agreed to pay $336 million to settle charges connected to bribery schemes aimed at increasing sales of its pharmaceutical products.
The US justice department at the time said Novartis's Greek subsidiary admitted paying kickbacks from 2012-2015 to employees of public hospitals to boost sales of its products and attain a dominant market share.
Greek officials estimated that the scheme cost the state around three billion euros ($3.5 billion) in inflated prices.
The affair in Greece took a twist when the Destabasidis and Maragueli, given protected-witness status, testified that a dozen politicians and senior officials were implicated in the scandal.
But Greek investigating magistrates were unable to find sufficient evidence to substantiate that allegation and press charges.
Last year, the country's prosecutor for financial crimes lifted the two witnesses' protection, deeming that they had not met their side of the bargain.
In 2022, the current government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis demanded Novartis pay 214 million euros in damages and interest over the case.
Novartis has already been given heavy fines in corruption cases in China and South Korea, on top of the US case.