Controversial Nottingham Forest Owner Charged With Drug Trafficking in Greece

Nottingham Forest will be bracing themselves for a slew of negative publicity after the club's owner was charged with drug trafficking in Greece.

Evangelos Marinakis has been accused of 'very serious charges' by Greece's public prosecutor, Eirini Tziva, with regards to a three-year long investigation, conducted between 2014 and 2017, into a heroin smuggling case, according to the Guardian.

Marinakis, who bought the Championship side for around £50m in May 2017, is also charged with financing an illegal operation alongside three of his closest working associates.

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Tziva has accused the shipowner businessman of being the owner of a tanker - the Noor 1 - that was caught smuggling 2.1 tonnes of heroin into the port of Piraeus.

The authorities have conducted a wide ranging investigation into who owned the vessel that carried that huge drugs haul into the country and, after zeroing in on bank transfers of Marinakis' that drew suspicion, have opted to formally charge him with the offences.

Sources close to Greece's courts have alleged that several money transfers funded the purchase of the Noor 1, which has remained impounded since it was seized in Piraeus four years ago.

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Marinakis, who also owns Greek champions Olympiakos, has so far declined to comment on the accusations - presumably to allow his legal team to whip up a case against the charges ahead of criminal proceedings beginning in the near future.

The 50-year-old has been embroiled in supposed criminal activity in the past. Marinakis was acquitted of being involved in a 2011 match-fixing incident three years ago.

At the time UEFA gave Greek authorities data that suggested a web-based network across seven countries had attempted to launder money from Greek Cup games in 2009 and 2010.

Marinakis was acquitted of those alleged crimes by the Three Members Court of First Instance, with the Piraeus-born businessman attributing those allegations to 'jealous' critics who wished to bring him down.