Former Prime Minister Giorgos Papandreou refused to appear before the Parliamentary Committee investigating the Lagarde list scandal, opting instead to reply in writing.
In his original message Mr. Papandreou claims he was “never informed and nor did he ask to be informed on the content or anything related to the Lagarde list”, but rather he was interested in collecting data on possible tax evasion.
Mr. Papandreou also expressed his surprise at the accusations of his mother’s involvement in the list, citing “obvious political purposes”. The former PM blamed “relevant services”, namely SDOE, for not exhausting all investigation options.
Mr. Papandreou’s refusal to appear in person to testify before the Parliamentary Committee is expected to cause a strong reaction from SYRIZA. Officers of the opposition party were dismissive of the former PM’s decision to disregard the Committee, claiming that his response in writing suggests he is consistent with “someone being suspect or accused”.
In the meantime, SDOE executive E. Karamanos confirmed that his former colleague N. Lekkas had implicated Mrs. Maria Papandreou in the account with deposits worth 550 million dollars. Mr. Lekkas denies the allegation, however Mr. Karamanos stated that SDOE can confirm the account beneficiaries.
