Linda Athanasiadou admission for Apollon Athanasiades involvement with money laundering Linda Athanasiadou admission for Apollon Athanasiades involvement with money laundering Transcript: The Full transcribe: 00:08 So I was working and having Nicole ( her daughter) and traveling with my ACCA, traveling a lot to Russia, to Ukraine, to London, here because I have to do audits. 00:24 I have to study as well. 00:28 Also I was not reading I was doing, my ACCA I decided to do an MBA, parallel and having a young baby. It was a fucking nightmare. 00:39 So difficult and the moGvaGon it was I just had to make money and to get out of this shit. That’s it. Because I love Apollon, I wanted to be with him, I knew that since I last got pregnant, I can’t have another baby and I cannot let the only baby grow up in like in in this condition 00:56 Literally, I was not sleeping. I was coming from work at 8. I was going to bed I was preparing the staff for Nicole I was going to bed, wake aUer for two hours and sleep and studying all night. I had to do my exams If I fail my ACCA, I will be fired and I got my audit stuff Uh. Uh. 01:29 At that Gme Apollon, he met these Russian guys; they wanted to do an investment fund. 01:38 Uh, they don't have a very clean business, but they wanted to do an investment firm asset management in Europe. So they were looking for where to make the investment firm and decided in Cyprus. Why Cyprus? It is a European license. 01:53 Its more flexible! the costs are low So Hum. One day I was. It was like 9 or 10 o'clock at night and we were finishing one audit of erm one big Ukrainian company They were listed in LSE So that Gme I was working in KPMG So Then 02:27 Apollon said I am meeting these my Russian GUYS, my clients. 02:31 And I was like I really don't want to come But he said Please come and we and we are alone here and need company. 02:38 So I came there and there was these guys. 02:42 Er, And we start like talking this and that. 02:47 Then I went to Moscow, and I applied, Apollon already applied for their license. He made them a whole structure and everything and Plus we had to think how to put capital to show that it’s clean money. You know, because they were not clean and the regulators to accept, so he managed everything and it’s done. 03:010 Then I came to Moscow, they told me. 03:12 Come work for us. You know 03:15 I told them guys like you don't know me. I don't know you. 03:19 They said from what we have seen, is enough for us. 03:27 Come and work for us 03:30 So then I fly, I had to say to KPMG, I am leaving. I went to the partner, and I said to him I am leaving He was like. 03:33 When? Really are you going? Where And I said I decided to do make some different opportunities. And At that Gme I was. I was very fast getting promoted, and I leU KPMG at my 27 basically, I was already a senior manager so the next step was because I was already very fast promoted I got an international twice an international price for ACCA For the highest level for tax and audit, so they were promoting very fast and at the Gme, the main partner Angelos, He's the main regional partner of KPMG. You have very good relationship, I am renting office from him now, a beautiful building and He has very good connections And and 04:29 He knows the regulators and other departments in Cyprus 04:33 And every time I need something he is always about helping. 04:39 So he just says Ok go. 04:44 But the door is open anytime you want to come back, you just can come back. Maybe it's because you have a of studies. Stress I said I just wanted to make a change So I leU. 04:57 I open up an audit company and. 05:03 I started to set- up an investment firm from scratch from zero. 05:08 So in parallel 05:12 Like in one year, they asked Apollon to leave as well and 05:17 Apollon undertook to structure for all of their business for the Russian guy's business. 05:26 And basically, they are like they have two investment firms in Russia. They have this one in Cyprus. 05:36 But they were not able to show themselves They wanted to show themselves, and they didn't want that because they had a licensed Europeans. He didn't want to show...
