Ex-head of Greek statistics body gets 2-year jail term

ATHENS

A Greek court on Tuesday sentenced the former head of the country's statistics agency to two years in jail.

The Athens Appeal Court ruled that Andreas Georgiou should have sought permission from ELSTAT's board of directors before he told EU authorities of the country's deficit figures for 2009.

Georgiou -- living in the United States -- is unlikely to see jail time; the court suspended the sentence for three years.

The former chairman was acquitted of the same charges last December by another court but a senior Greek prosecutor ordered the case be reopened.

Georgiou had been the chairman of the agency between 2010 and 2015.

Reporting by Furkan Naci Top; Writing by Ilker Girit