The ancient Greek Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou was sentenced on Tuesday to have taken familiar names from a list of people with accounts in Switzerland that became known as “Lagarde list”.
However, Papaconstantinou was sentenced to a suspended sentence of one year in prison for having removed the names, and was acquitted of a second embezzlement charge. A mild punishment compared to what could be the maximum penalty. – Ten years imprisonment
“Lagarde list” includes 2059 names of Greek citizens with accounts in Swiss bank and HSBC came to the attention of the French police. The then French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde (now managing director of the IMF), forwards the list to his Greek counterpart so that it can investigate. When having cash out accounts could be trying to hide income to avoid paying taxes on them.
The list reaches the hands of Papaconstantinou in 2010 and nothing is done. His successor, Evangelos Venizelos, leader of PASOK however (both politicians are socialists), nothing did. Among the drawers of these two ministers and the corridors of tax crimes investigation authorities, the list disappeared. Was recreated based on scattered information. Athens asked France however the original. When he arrived, there were three names unless the latest version of the list circulating in Greece than in the original that came from Paris. The names were three former minister of family – a cousin, the husband of this, and the wife of another cousin of his
Papaconstantinou, who was finance minister in charge of negotiating. the first loan to Greece, always said he was to be a scapegoat. Points to his successor Evangelos Venizelos, saying that this had not investigate the list, and says it could have been anyone to recreate the list without the names of his three family members.
Parliament chumbou a proposal for investigate Venizelos (who as leader of PASOK participated in the ruling coalition defeated by Syriza in January elections) concerning this case. The Pasok Papaconstantinou expelled following the process.
This is a case that causes particular commotion in Greece for dealing with possible tax evasion very wealthy Greeks and the apparent reluctance of the authorities to investigate these cases.
An aggravating was, in contrast to this lack of investigations and legal proceedings against suspects who can not pay taxes, the speed of a complaint for invasion of privacy against the journalist who published the list in the research journal Hot Doc , Vaxevanis Back. Vaxevanis was acquitted but the repeated trial -. And again acquitted
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