Fourteen state companies were formally charged in...

Fourteen state companies were formally charged in connection with a scandal at the Bank of Crete that has battered Greece’s socialist government in recent months. Among the companies that have been charged are the national airline, power, phone and mail companies, which allegedly received higher than legal interest on deposits at the bank. The scandal’s central figure, Greek-American banker George Koskotas, fled last year after being charged with fraud and embezzlement at the private bank, which he owned. He is under arrest in the United States.