The buck hopefully stops here
The Economy and Finance Ministry will now have full and direct control over the services combating financial crimes and tax evasion. There is to be a change of leadership at the independent authority on money laundering; the department is to be downgraded and will be supervised by the relevant government minister. Some time ago one of the minister’s personal aides was appointed as the new head of the Special Investigations Service. Meanwhile, the authorities are focusing on serious financial crimes. We await the results of these changes, made personally by the minister, Giorgos Alogoskoufis, with great interest. From now on, responsibility for the course of the investigation into cases that have shocked the public rests exclusively on his shoulders. If the files are buried away in a drawer somewhere or the cases are dealt with leniently, it will be obvious that the cover-up is politically motivated rather than due to some decision by technocrats or the independent judiciary.
