Ex-Finance Minister of Greece to Stand Trial
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Version 0 of 1. ATHENS — A judicial panel in Greece has ruled that a former finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, must stand trial on charges related to a scandal over a list of potential tax evaders that angered Greeks in the grip of austerity measures. Mr. Papaconstantinou, an economist who was educated in the United States and Britain and who served under the former Prime Minister George A. Papandreou from 2009 to 2011, will stand trial on charges of attempted breach of trust and of tampering with a list of about 2,000 Greeks with money deposited overseas, court officials said. Mr. Papaconstantinou was cleared by the five-member judicial council of the charge of breach of duty. He was investigated after Parliament in 2012 lifted the immunity from prosecution that ministers are entitled to, court officials said. Mr. Papaconstantinou has denied any wrongdoing, saying he is the victim of an attempt to incriminate him. Tax evasion is a major problem in Greece and has been widely blamed for helping set off a debt crisis that has ravaged the economy and forced it to live off aid from foreign lenders. News of the existence of the list — given to Greece by France in 2010 — shocked many Greeks, who are angry that successive governments have failed to pursue those on it while imposing austerity measures. Mr. Papaconstantinou was expelled from the Pasok party after prosecutors found that the names of three of his relatives had been deleted from the list. Lawmakers later voted in favor of pressing criminal charges against him. “I’m not responsible for all of the country’s ills,” Mr. Papaconstantinou told Parliament before that vote. |