ATHENS – The case of the television stations licensing bid in 2016 opened on Monday with the deposition of businessman Christos Kalogritsas sbefore a Supreme Court (Areios Pagos) investigating magistrate .

Kalogritsas testified before judge Evdoxia Kiouptsidou-Stratoudaki over the misdemeanor of collusion in breach of duty with former minister Nikos Pappas; he will return to continue deposing on Tuesday. He handed the magistrate a document to explain his position, which relates to the sources of funding as a media investor.

The businessman has told authorities that the auction for TV licenses aimed at acquiring a station friendly to the then government, and claimed that Pappas had arranged for Kalogritsas to show up as an investor with funding purported to be his own but originating from the international construction company CCC.

Kalogritsas’ testimony before a judge will be followed by that of Pappas, a former state minister and former telecoms minister, who was prosecuted by Parliament for breach of duty as minister, also a misdemeanor.