Report on ex-minister’s relatives due June 10 as inquiry into Lagarde list figures out next step
The parliamentary committee investigating whether ex-Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou tampered with the Lagarde list of Greek depositors is expected to decide over the coming days when and how to continue with its slow-moving probe after the Financial Crimes Unit (SDOE) said it expected to complete a report on the assets of three of the ex-minister’s relatives, whose names were removed from the list, by June 10.
The 13-member panel on Thursday sought an extension until April 25 when Parliament is due to break for Orthodox Easter. Until then, the committee hopes to question former Prime Minister George Papandreou, who on Wednesday submitted a written deposition. It is also seeking advice from SDOE on how to acquire a breakdown of the individuals and businesses behind a 550-million-dollar account on the Lagarde list.
On Thursday, investigative reporter Costas Vaxevanis (photo), who published a version of the Lagarde list in his magazine Hot Doc in October, submitted a deposition to the committee, which had asked him to explain why the name of Dimitris Kontominas, founder of the Interamerican insurance company and owner of Alpha television channel, had been removed from the list that appeared in Hot Doc which referred only to the name of the insurance firm. Vaxevanis said it was not the committee’s job to instruct him on how to practice journalism.
