Ex-Finance Minister George Papakonstantinou (under the George Papandreou PASOK-led government) apparently asked for several weeks in order to study the documents that have piled up in the parliamentary investigation against him on whether or not he doctored the Lagarde list of Greek depositors in Switzerland.
Through his lawyer, Papakonstantinou, was due to face the lawmakers on Monday, made a request to be allowed to prepare for questioning by the panel of MPs until August 10. He argues that the case file, which runs to some 19,400 pages, requires more time to be studied carefully.
If the committee refuses to grant this extension to Papakonstantinou, he will not be obligated to appear before the panel and the investigation would then be wrapped up without his contribution.
Last week, Greece's financial crimes squad (SDOE) submitted a report to the committee indicating that four of the ex-minister’s relatives on the list had failed to declare more than 6 million Euros. Of course Papakonstantinou denies removing their names from the list so they would not be investigated for tax evasion.
