SYRIZA-ND squabbles over ex-FinMin’s foreign bank accounts

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Real News on Saturday questioned the source of former conservative finance minister Gikas Hardouvelis’ wealth, citing a document by State Minister for Fighting Corruption Panagiotis Nikoloudis. The article states that “while Hardouvelis was e-mailing the troika of Greece’s creditors to agree with new antipopular memorandum reforms, he was at the time tax evading and sending funds abroad.”

A statement by the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) government stated that tax evasion and fighting corruption are “top priorities” for the party and the “issue exposes the former finance minister and those who appointed him to manage the fate of the economy during such a difficult time for the country.”

Following the scathing attack, ND spokesman Costas Karagounis responded  by stating that the conservative party was dedicated to transparency and that Hardouvelis would provide explanations himself. Furthermore, Karagounis criticised Economy Minister and Deputy PM George Stathakis and Alternate Foreign Minister Euclid Tsakalotos for investing in mutual funds through Black Rock and JP Morgan, highly hypocritical considering how SYRIZA has called these groups “money vultures.” Furthermore, Karagounis asked for the party to explain other depositors abroad among its officials such Alternate Finance Minister Nadia Valavani who has not given an explanation for her fund transfers abroad despite related requests.

Hardouvelis released an announcement on Saturday stating that the amounts were “fully taxed and related to income from long-standing paying  jobs” held by both him and his wife. “There is full proof based on income tax filings, and (the amounts) are in deposits and accounts I held abroad, because of a long-term paying job I had there.”

“These amounts, in their totality, are included in the ‘source of wealth’ [pothen esches] statement for 2014, which I submitted in September of that year as finance minister,” Hardouvelis said, adding that the funds “were sent abroad during a time I was not serving in the public sector and was under no obligation to ‘submit a source’ of wealth statement.”

He concluded, “The last few years, I have been annually declaring the same amounts and tax data also to U.S. tax authorities, in observance of American legislation (FBAR).”