Greek journalist arrested over exposing politicians' alleged tax evasion

Published time: October 28, 2012 09:35

Tags
Austerity, Corruption, Crime, Greece, Law, Politics, Protest, Scandal

Greek police have arrested one of the countrys top journalists, after his publication Hot Doc released the so-called 'Lagarde list,' containing the names of some 2,000 Greeks with funds hidden in Swiss bank accounts. The police arrested Kostas Vaxevanis, the owner and editor of Hot Doc, during a live radio interview on Sunday. They're entering my house with the prosecutor right now. They are arresting me. Spread the word, Vaxevanis tweeted. He is due to appear in court on Monday to answer charges of privacy violations from publishing the list of names, which dates to 2007. Instead of arresting the
tax evaders and the ministers who had the list in their hands, they are trying to arrest the truth and free journalism, Vaxevanis said in an interview.

The speaker of the Greek Parliament, several Finance Ministry employees and a number of business leaders all reportedly had Swiss HSBC bank accounts. The Hot Doc article revealed that data matched that of Christine Lagarde, the former French finance minister who in 2010 provided her Greek counterpart a list of names of those alleged to have large sums of money stashed away in Swiss banks. Citing privacy concerns for individuals on the list, Hot Doc said it had redacted exact bank balance figures, but added that some accounts contained as much as 500 million euros. The Greek government took no action at the emergence of the first 'Lagarde list.' Tax evasion has become a hotly contested issue, as the countrys parliament is expected to vote on a new 13.5 billion euro austerity package that most Greeks oppose. On Friday, the office of former Prime Minister George Papandreou denied accusations that he knew about the list, after a member of the opposition Syriza

party asserted that Papandreou had helped arrange a meeting with the chief of the Geneva HSBC branch when he was in power. Last week, former Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said that he had asked the countrys financial crimes unit to investigate about 20 Greeks suspected of maintaining large holdings in Geneva, after French authorities forwarded him the list in 2010. He also claimed that the Finance Ministrys legal adviser had told him that using the list as evidence was problematic, since an HSBC employee had illegally leaked it. International lenders have long insisted that Greece investigate those suspected of tax evasion before the country be deemed eligible for further bailouts. The Hot Doc report did not make specific accusations of money laundering. The publication pointed out that it was legal to own a Swiss bank account, but implied that the Greek government has done little to investigate the matter. Giorgos Voulgarakis, the speaker of parliament from Mr. Samarass center-right New Democracy Party, was quick to deny the accusations and responded by accusing Hot Doc of slander. According to the magazine, Voulgarakis HSBC deposits dating back to 2003 are not on the speakers tax declarations. A massive social media campaign is now underway asking that all charges against Vaxevanis for his role in the 'Lagarde list' leak be dropped.

Tax immunity for Greeces rich

The leading investigative reporter in Greece had been arrested for effectively serving the public interest, Yanis Varoufakis, professor of Economics at the University of Athens, told RT. He says Greek politicians are not keen to expose corruption as the countrys political and business elite have historically been intertwined.
Lets not beat about the bush. The great problem with tax evasion in Greeceit is one of the reasons that Greece is being portrayed internationally as a corrupt country, and Greeks on the streets who pay their taxes, work very hard and are suffering are incensed at how they are portrayed internationally, Varoufakis said.

The fact is that for the last 30-40 years, the rich in Greece has enjoyed a kind of tax immunity. Theyre not really tax evaders, theyre immune from tax because of the cozy relationship that they have with politicians who legislate in a way that makes that tax immunity, he continued.

He argues that this conflict of interest has made Greek politicians more interested in covering up tax evasion than exposing it.
Look, for three years now during this crisis while austerity is being imposed, the vast majority of workers have no alternative but to pay their taxes. Politicians of the major parties are pointing moralizing fingers at the weak members of Greek society saying oh, you have not been paying your taxes, youre a tax evader, this is why we are in such a terrible state. So now that the truth is coming about their tax evasion, the fact that tax evasion is played very skillfully by the rich, as it has been done for 30-40 years, now their particularly keen to be idle in the face of such a list.

Watch the full interview with Yanis Varoufakis on RT

http://rt.com/files/news/greece-officials-swiss-accounts-journalist-warrant407/iea7f9d309237a2d9b460c9fb443ade47_00b6f5ea.dv.mp4

http://rt.com/news/greece-officials-swiss-accounts-journalist-warrant-407/

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Greetings citizens of the world Greetings citizens of Greece We are anonymous. The Greek government is prepared to testify to a vote in the Greek Parliament the new package of economic austerity measures of 13.5 billion euros which are expected to prolong the recession in Greece. Under the austerity measures, pensioners have seen a 60 percent fall in their pensions - meaning their life savings are now less than half what they expected. Meanwhile, the government is considering more cuts, raising the retirement age and putting a cap on free healthcare provision of just 1,500 per person per year. Greece used to have one of the lowest suicide rates in the EU but since 2010, the number of people taking their own lives has increased by 40 percent, with a large proportion from the older generation. Sixty-eight percent of Greece's population living below the at-risk-of poverty rate (ie, having an income below

60 percent of the national median) were spending over 40 percent of their income on rent or mortgage payments.

More than 439,000 underage children are living below poverty level in Greece due to the ongoing crisis, according to a UNICEF report released on Oct. 16 on the occasion of the World Feed Day 2012 and the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The popularity of far right parties, including the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn, has risen in tandem. Your goverment failed you. Greek citizens, it's time to revolt. Do it while you can. Stick it to the Man. You must resist. We stand by your side. We gained full access to the Greek Ministry of Finance. Those funky IBM servers don't look so safe now, do they... We have new guns in our arsenal. A sweet 0day SAP exploit is in our hands and oh boy we're gonna sploit the hell out of it. Respectz to izl the dog for that perl candy. We retrieved confidential goverment documents, credentials etc. *************************************************************** https://anonfiles.com/file/5c9fa9402e62bffd2f569ac3d118fbcd *************************************************************** https://anonfiles.com/file/a50145cddeb310ad8250c6c97d569887 *************************************************************** Citizens of Greece you are paying Banks and international hedge funds. They own your lives. Revolt before it's too late. The austerity measures should not pass. We need to say no more.

We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.

**********GREEK MINISTRY OF FINANCE CREDENTIALS******** username=AKARAPATIS password=YSX268 username=AKOULOUMVAKI password=DONTAKIA07 username=APAPALOI password=XFRSDI username=apatraman password=123456 username=APOTOLIOS password=7113PAAG username=CVRADI password=CDXZ7N

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Anonymous Release - #OpGreece with Leaks and Mirrors

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- Greece Leaks - Lagarde List by Hot Doc - http://pastebin.com/ecDXtseh - Read article here: https://rt.com/news/greece-officials-swiss-accounts-journalist-warrant-407 |

- Mirror 1 - http://imgur.com/a/0RsJo#0 - Mirror 2 - http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?939c14co0fyq790

- New Ministry of Finance leaks by Anonymous - Press release: http://www.anonpaste.me/anonpaste2/index.php? 96dca2501712c2bd#7zC3Gk22bl9xGtQbWaaWEeEu46UElidVHWqL/lUNV+0=

- We retrieved confidential goverment documents, credentials etc. *************************************************************** 1. https://anonfiles.com/file/5c9fa9402e62bffd2f569ac3d118fbcd 2. https://anonfiles.com/file/a50145cddeb310ad8250c6c97d569887 ***************************************************************

- Mirror 1. http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?qab4zha32ehn02o 2. http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?lbvlq70i4zv4udu - Mirror Torrent 1. http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/7770751/_OpGreece_-_Ministry_Of_Finance__Anonymous_Release -

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