Ex-SDOE chief Diotis says he received altered Lagarde list

The former head of the Financial Crime Squad (SDOE), Yiannis Diotis, on Wednesday denied any wrongdoing in the handling of the Lagarde list and insisted that the memory stick he was given containing the names of Greeks with deposits in Switzerland had been tampered with before he got his hands on it.

Diotis appeared in the special court trying former Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou for allegedly removing the names of his relatives from the list before asking for SDOE to investigate it for possible tax evaders. Diotis is facing a separate trial for failing to probe the list and was allowed not to answer some questions.

However, Diotis said he felt the list could not be used because the data had been stolen from HSBC in Geneva. He also insisted that the list he was given had 2,059 names, not the 2,062 that a second copy of the list sent by French authorities contained.

The second list was handed to Diotis?s successor, Stelios Stasinopoulos, who also appeared in court Wednesday. ?When we saw there were 2,062 names, we realized we had a problem,? he said. The official added that the list should have been checked and that its handing over from the minister to SDOE should have been properly recorded.