Former premier George Papandreou and PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos have been summoned to testify before the parliamentary committee that is presently investigating the controversial Lagarde List scandal. Both Papandreou and Venizelos are expected to testify in the third week of March.
The probe is investigating why the names of three of former finance minister George Papakonstantinou’s relatives were removed from the list of 2,062 Greeks with $1.95 billion in the Geneva branch of HSBC, some of whom are thought to be tax evaders.
The committee decided not to invite former Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, and according to some reports it decided to allow a certain number of witnesses to testify before the prosecution.
The list of witnesses expected to be called include:
- Ioannis Ragousis (former minister under Papandreou government)
- Philip Sachinidis (former minister under Papandreou government)
- Dimitris Droutsas (former minister under Papandreou government)
- Harris Pampoukis (former minister under Papandreou government)
- Chris Pigal (IMF representative at the Ministry of Economy)
At the same time it has summoned journalists Alexis Papachelos (from SKAI television) as well as Harris Botsaris to also testify.
Moreover, Maria Pantelis is also expected to testify, who is apparently the holder of a 550 million account.
Greece's financial crimes unit finally obtained details about the assets of George Papakonstantinou's relatives, who suddenly and mysteriously "disappeared" from the original Lagarde list. According to reports, the information will now be forwarded to the parliamentary committee which is investigating this scandal.
Moreover, Maria Pantelis is also expected to testify, who is apparently the holder of a 550 million account.
Greece's financial crimes unit finally obtained details about the assets of George Papakonstantinou's relatives, who suddenly and mysteriously "disappeared" from the original Lagarde list. According to reports, the information will now be forwarded to the parliamentary committee which is investigating this scandal.
The existence of the 'Lagarde list' first came to light some months ago when Venizelos (who served as finance minister under the Papandreou and Papademos government) produced a copy of it on a portable flash drive that had been in his possession for roughly a year. The original list had been sent to his predecessor at the finance ministry, George Papakonstantinou, in the form of a CD that has not been found and of which there is no record.
The discovery of the list launched an investigation into whether the names on the list might be guilty of tax evasion and extensive speculation as to why its existence had not been revealed earlier. There was also speculation that the original list sent from France may have been tampered with, prompting Greek authorities to request that a second copy of the list be sent from France and turned over to the two financial prosecutors investigating the case.
There is no information at present on whether a comparison of the first list in the hands of the prosecutors and the second sent from France has yielded any new evidence. The process of comparing the two lists has been done and the two prosecutors intend to review all the material in the case file in order to determine whether further action must be taken in regards to the non-politicians implicated in the case, namely the two former heads of the finance ministry's financial crimes' squad SDOE.
Meanwhile, authorities are continuing to investigate the people named in the list to determine whether they can account for the provenance of the funds they have sent abroad.
The discovery of the list launched an investigation into whether the names on the list might be guilty of tax evasion and extensive speculation as to why its existence had not been revealed earlier. There was also speculation that the original list sent from France may have been tampered with, prompting Greek authorities to request that a second copy of the list be sent from France and turned over to the two financial prosecutors investigating the case.
There is no information at present on whether a comparison of the first list in the hands of the prosecutors and the second sent from France has yielded any new evidence. The process of comparing the two lists has been done and the two prosecutors intend to review all the material in the case file in order to determine whether further action must be taken in regards to the non-politicians implicated in the case, namely the two former heads of the finance ministry's financial crimes' squad SDOE.
Meanwhile, authorities are continuing to investigate the people named in the list to determine whether they can account for the provenance of the funds they have sent abroad.
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