Financial Crime Unit in search of the millionaire MP

Special secretary for Financial Crime, Yiannis Diotis, ordered an urgent investigation in order to determine whether the amount of 1000000 euros, which was transferred abroad by an MP, is justified based on reported income.

At the same time, the deadline set by the audit committee for checking MP income origins, in order to identify and publicize the name of the MP who transferred one million euros abroad in May 2011, is Friday.

Note that the Financial Crime Unit is housed in the same building as the Authority against money laundering, which is chaired by Mr. Panagiotis Nikoloudis who revealed the whole affair.

Information indicates that Justice Minister Miltiadis Papaioannou and Mr. Nikoloudis communicated with each other and found that the only one who can advance the process and publish the MP’s name is the chairman of the audit committee, Evangelos Argyris, explaining that a request should be sent to the Bank of Greece, whereby all banking transactions of Members and their close relatives, which took place in 2011, should be dispatched to him.

On Thursday, House chairman Mr. Philippos Petsalnikos communicated with Panayotis Nikoloudis in order to persuade him to provide any information in his possession about the “1-million-euro MP”.

However, Mr. Nikoloudis still refuses to cooperate because as he says, he did not identify any illegal acts and therefore he is not entitled to proceed to discovery. Mr. Nikoloudis reportedly said to Mr. Petsalnikos that “even if you tortured me, I would not give up the name”.

With these facts - and while the investigation by the committee president is under way -  Mr. Petsalnikos contacted the Finance Ministry and asked them to investigate whether there are politicans in the list of those who sent money abroad in 2011, in amounts over 150.000.

It should, however, be noted that some MPs, with letters to the President of parliament, made it clear that if the name isn’t published within the next few days, then they will initiate legal proceedings in order to defend “our honor and reputation”, explaining that “there can be no overhanging shadows left over the entire political world just because of one complaint”.