By Andy Dabilis

A federal judge in California has sentenced a former Orange County businessman to four months in prison plus four months of home confinement for bribing officials in Greece. City News Service reports 60-year-old David Edmonds was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Edmonds worked for Control Components Inc. when authorities said he he bribed officials in the Greek government in July 2003 when the PASOK Socialists were ruling.

The Rancho Santa Margarita-based valve company designs and makes control valves used in nuclear, oil, gas and power-generation industries. Prosecutors said the company has acknowledged its executives offered bribes in more than 30 countries to get about $46.5 million in business.

A new Transparency International report found that despite 2 1/2 years of austerity and reforms, that Greece has become the most corrupt country in the European Union, with bribery and wrongdoing still flourishing and where illicit payments are a part of doing business in many cases.
(Source: AP)

Demetrios Holds Memorial Service for Sandy Hook Massacre Victims

By Christina Flora

George Iliopoulos, Greek Consul General in New York, represented the Greek government in the area of the tragedy that struck Newtown Connecticut. Archbishop Demetrios of America, held a memorial service for the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre victims at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Archangels in Stamford.

According to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the Archbishop said that this is a terrible, an abominable act of the kind that our society should work hard to prevent. He called upon the Orthodox faithful across the country to pray to God fervently for support and healing of the many families and individuals affected by this violent act and for the repose of the souls of the innocent victims of this enormous tragedy

His Eminence talked with Father Peter Karloutsos, the priest of the nearby Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption in Danbury, Connecticut just after he heard of the tragedy. He expressed his sorrow and offered any support on behalf of the Greek