Read the following transcript of a conversation. Answer the questions by choosing true, false, or not given from the drop-down menu.
This week, the government froze the assets of a local businessman, Timόtheos Skylopoulos, who is suspected of being associated with organized crime. Known to his customers as, “Timmy the Greek,” the pastry chef and coffee-shop owner has denied having any connection to the crime underworld. After arranging bail, Mr. Timόtheos Skylopoulos made the following statement and recounted his arrest:
“I make tyropita (cheese pies). I know nothing of these accusations. Yesterday, a policeman came into my shop and showed me a picture of a mobster. He asked me if I knew him. I said no. He said that this man is my client. I said that everyone is my client if he wants tyropita. The next thing I know, some men in business suits rushed into my shop. They had been waiting outside in an unmarked car. First, I thought they were customers in a hurry, but the next moment, they knocked me to the floor, put handcuffs on me, and arrested me. One of them took all my pies—all of them. I told him he has to pay like everyone else. Then, they put me in the police car and took me to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). They ate all the tyropita in the car. What kind of a country is this?”
When asked by reporters if there were any truth to the accusations of his association with the mafia, Mr. Skylopoulos remarked:
“What’s the matter with you? The agents from the FBI asked me, ‘Hey, we know you have been doing business with the mafia.’ I said to them the same thing I will say to you. Do I look like a mafioso? I’m not even Italian; I’m Greek! What I told the FBI was that a lot of people come into my store. I don’t ask names. I don’t ask for business cards or favors. I just serve Greek coffee and tyropita. You want tyropita? You come to my store. I don’t care who you are as long as you pay. Understand? Do I know some mafia men? I don’t know anyone, not “Big Jim” Ricci, not Don “The Fork” Bianchi, not Nick “The Wolf” Cassini. I know no one. Before yesterday, if they had come to my coffee shop—like they usually do on Tuesdays—I would have known their faces, but only as customers. If you think I know anyone else, then you had better talk to my lawyer, Mr. Antonio Angelino. OK?”
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