Opposition accuses alternate minister of blackmailing BoG chief

New Democracy has accused Alternate Health Minister Pavlos Polakis of blackmailing the governor of the Bank of Greece after he leaked the recording of a telephone conversation prompted by an inquiry into two personal loans issued to the political official by a Greek bank.

"Envious of the practices of Yanis 'Clouseau' Varoufakis, Pavlos Polakis today attempted to blackmail Greece's central banker by recording a telephone conversation," the conservative opposition said in an announcement on Monday night, likening the former finance minister who had recorded a meeting of the Eurogroup in 2015 to Peter Sellers's bumbling film detective.

ND's announcement came after Polakis leaked a recording of a conversation with Yannis Stournaras in which he demanded that the central bank chief also probe loans issued to certain opposition parties, politicians and media. "Otherwise I will...