A high-ranking air force commander accused of spying for China was remanded in custody after his lengthy testimony on Monday before a military prosecutor.

According to reports, the suspect provided testimony for some eight hours, in which he expressed remorse for his actions.

Greek authorities have now focused their investigation on the contacts he allegedly maintained, as well as on how he handled sensitive military information.
The suspect, who up until last week held the rank of colonel, has confessed to espionage, while claiming that his first contact was made through a professional social media site, when, as he said, unknown individuals saw his resume and contacted him.
According to his testimony, the contact was not made directly from China but by a company representative based in Malaysia. The latter presented itself as a private consulting firm providing services to countries in Asia, including China.

After mundane initial communication, the representatives of the company increasingly requested classified files and information. According to reports, this is when an individual who called himself “Steven” made contact.

A trip to China followed. Afterwards, “Steven” met with the base commander in Athens and gave him codes for a crypto wallet so that money could be transferred to him.

From that moment on, the unidentified individual began asking for classified files and information and in exchange provided money.

When he realized that “handler” was working for the Chinese government, as the suspect maintained, “it was too late”, and then the threats and blackmail began.

‘I apologize to my homeland’

In a later development, the suspects lawyer read out a statement in which he takes full responsibility for his actions.

“Unbeknownst to me and without intention, I initially became involved in something that developed in a threatening, dangerous, and illegal manner. With my apology, I do not attempt to justify myself, nor do I even attempt to defend myself. From the outset, I placed myself at the disposal of the authorities and the justice system, with the sole aim of facilitating their work in the search for the truth, which however, in this case, is the result of the unique, singularly dangerous and unmanageable circumstances in which I found myself, which led to the actions for which I am accused.

“I sincerely apologize to my country, the armed forces, my colleagues, and my family. Having absolute confidence in military justice, I ask to be punished with a fair and reasonable punishment.”