The anti-corruption prosecutor, Eleni Raikou has begun with the criminal prosecution of the former PASOK Minister Yiannos Papantoniou for inaccurate declaration of income, with felony charges for the year 2010 and misdemeanor for 2009.
Mr. Papantoniou’s wife, Stavroula Kourakou faces similar charges, for failure to submit a declaration of income for the years 2010 and 2009.
The prosecution follows the revelations of the Lagarde list, in which Ms. Papantoniou is recorded as having deposited 1.3 million euros in the Geneva branch of the HSBC bank.
“I knew nothing of my wife’s deposit in the Swiss Bank HSBC,” claimed Mr. Papantoniou during questioning by the prosecutor. “The money had been deposited a decade ago by my wife, without my knowledge. It was money for her children from her first wedding. The children got the money when they came back to Greece in 2010,” he said.
It should be pointed out that Papantoniou and his wife were found guilty of tax evasion for the years 2000-2010. This was uncovered during a Financial and Economic Crimes Unit (SDOE) investigation.
The assistant prosecutor, Popi Papandreou, studied the findings of the investigation and concluded that the former Greek minister should be prosecuted for persistent fraud to the degree of misdemeanor, while his wife Stavroula Kourakou should be prosecuted for the same offense to the degree of felony because of the 1.3 million euros found in the Swiss bank after the investigation prompted by the Lagarde list.
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