Greek politician George Papaconstantinou accused of tampering with Swiss bank list

GREECE’S coalition government has called for the indictment of former finance minister George Papaconstantinou for allegedly removing the names of three of his relatives from a list of Swiss bank account holders whose tax records were to be re-examined.

Seventy-one deputies from the three-party coalition yesterday signed the proposal to indict Mr Papaconstantinou for allegedly tampering with a public document and breach of duty – offences that would carry a maximum ten-year jail term, according to legal experts.

Mr Papaconstantinou, 51, served as finance minister between 2009 and 2011 in the previous Socialist government. But his party, which is part of the new conservative-led administration, is backing the proposed indictment.

The former minister has angrily denied the allegations, insisting the names were removed without his knowledge.

Under the proposed indictment, Mr Papaconstantinou allegedly removed the names of his first cousin, her husband, and another relative from a list of some 2,000 account holders at Swiss branches of HSBC.

The list was provided by French authorities in 2010 from data on 24,000 customers reportedly stolen from the bank. Greek prosecutors found the three missing names last week.