NEWS

ND chief hits back at government over corruption allegations

ND chief hits back at government over corruption allegations

New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday hit back at Greece’s leftist-led government after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sought to score political points by linking the conservative opposition with the so-called Paradise Papers.

Addressing his leftist lawmakers in Parliament on Wednesday, Tsipras vowed that authorities will investigate all leads exposed by the leaked set of documents concerning offshore investments, while accusing the opposition of corruption after the name of Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotaki, who is married to the ND chief, appeared in a list of 130 Greek citizens with offshore interests.

“We are waiting for an explanation,” Tsipras said.

“Whoever made it to the tax paradise will eventually end up in the hell of politics,” he added.

Speaking at a conservative party conference in Iraklio on the island of Crete later Wednesday, Mitsotakis picked up the gauntlet.

“They can pick on me instead of my wife if they want,” Mitsotakis said.

“I have told Parliament and Mr Tsipras before that there is no shame in losing an election. There is however shame in trying to save oneself through mudslinging, with misinformation and vulgar statements,” he said.

In the list, Grabowski-Mitsotaki appears to be the manager of a mutual fund based in the Cayman Islands. However, in a statement published in the Ethnos daily on Wednesday, she said she had little to do with administrative aspects of the fund as she was not on its managing board.

She added that the fact that Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing LP was the fund’s trustee and JP Morgan London the cooperating bank essentially guaranteed that the required transparency rules were being honored and anti-money laundering checks were conducted.

In the same statement, Grabowski-Mitsotaki said she had never kept her legitimate professional activities secret.

She added that the activities of the mutual fund, which was active between June 2010 and June 2012, were checked by chartered accountants.

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