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Former mayor Vassilis Papageorgopoulos being escorted by policemen at a Thessaloniki courthouse on Wednesday. Photo by ekathimerini.com
A Greek court sentenced Thessaloniki former mayor to life in prison for embezzling millions of euros from the municipal budget of Greece's second-largest city.
The judges found Vassilis Papageorgopoulos guilty of embezzling about EUR 20 M, - which accounted for half of his city's public works budget - in the first big corruption trial since the debt crisis erupted.
Vassilis Papageorgopoulos was mayor of Thessaloniki from 1999 to 2010 after serving as deputy sports minister in the early 1990s.
Papageorgopoulos was convicted along with Thessaloniki's former treasurer, who was found guilty of money laundering and forgery, and three other officials.
"I have nothing to do with this case. I'm sure that some people will die of guilt," he told the court after the ruling, according to Greek news websites.
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