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Novartis Bribery Case in Greece Threatens to Bolster Populists

  • Greek parliament to begin discussions on Novartis pricing case
  • The case has snared ECB governing council member, former PMs
The Novartis AG Logo sits on top of the company's headquarters office in Basel, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. Novartis proposed buying back $5 billion of shares and said it's considering separating its embattled eye-care division after projecting that sales this year at Europe's second-biggest drugmaker will likely be largely unchanged from 2016.
Photographer: Michele Limina/Bloomberg

Greek lawmakers begin discussions Wednesday on the alleged role of former senior government officials in a Novartis AG bribery case, which is part of a drug-overpricing scandal that’s estimated to have cost the country about 23 billion euros ($28.7 billion).

The case has snared 10 politicians, including former Finance Minister and current Bank of Greece Governor and European Central Bank Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras. All have denied wrongdoing. The Greek parliamentary hearing comes after another ECB Governing Council member, Ilmars Rimsevics of Latvia, was detained over the weekend by the country’s anti-corruption agency on suspicion of securing bribes. He has denied the charges and refused to step down.