NEWS

Initial probe into Lagarde list goes to Parl’t

The initial results of an investigation into the so-called Lagarde list of some 2,000 Greeks with bank accounts at the Geneva branch of HSBC were submitted on Monday to Parliament, which will decide whether to hold its own probe into whether any politicians should be held accountable for not making use of the list to crack down on tax evasion.

The details of the preliminary investigation were provided by prosecutor Nikos Pantelis to Justice Minister Antonis Roupakiotis, who submitted them to Parliament.

In an accompanying document, Pantelis made no mention of specific politicians but referred to “possible criminal offenses by members of the government which received and handled the CD in question.”

Former Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou, who was given the list in the fall of 2010 by his then French counterpart Christine Lagarde, and his successor Evangelos Venizelos, who now heads socialist PASOK, have denied charges that they failed to ensure a proper probe into the list.

Current Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras has asked the French government to resend Athens the original version of the list.

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