Thursday, November 1, 2012

Tax Evasion - Greek Journalist Who Printed Swiss Bank List Acquitted - Attorney

NEW:Kostas Vaxevanis has also been found innocent of violating Greece's info safeguards law

His newspaper printed a list of titles of related to 2,000 Greeks by using Swiss loan company accounts

Authorities experience concerns around why now there may be simply no probe involving possible duty evasion

"I did my career inside protection associated with open interest," Vaxevanis says

Athens, Greece (CNN) A Greek investigative correspondent seemed to be found innocent with criminal rates Thursday immediately after he / she publicized the artists involving concerning 2,000 Greeks along with Swiss loan company accounts, a move that embarrassed the place's political in addition to business elite.

Kostas Vaxevanis, your publisher with the magazine Hot Doc, appeared to be billed by using violating Greece's information security law. He has been arrested with Sunday, a day immediately after their publication published the actual list, and found not guilty Thursday night, safety attorney Harris Ikonomopoulos said.

Vaxevanis defended his / her decision in order to submit with the actual reasons that your data came coming from a trusted supply and also that it absolutely was in the open interest for it to become released.

The names were also known as the "Lagarde" list, simply because they were given by Christine Lagarde, in that case French finance minister , to the girl Greek counterpart in August 2010. Lagarde is currently that International Monetary Fund chief.

While it is certainly not unlawful to hold on to a Swiss commercial lender account, along with there isn't any research that anyone broke the law, suspicions are substantial inside Greece in which a few of those known as inside listing may have approved the actual accounts to stop settling taxes towards the Greek state.

A parliamentary committee is usually investigating the reason zero examination ended up being performed often less than former Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou as well as his successor, Evangelos Venizelos.

The ministers claimed the slide images ended up paid towards the dupery office, but administrators generally there explained that they had in no way already been technically advised to help consider who within the listing had been or even wasn't dodging taxes. French along with German authorities, which ingested similar lists, did pursue some of those named to get alleged duty evasion.

Greece's advertising possess questioned whether that authorities' failure to probe people known as intended for achievable tax evasion could have happen to be the effect of a strong attempt by politicians to shield a well-to-do elite.

"I does my job while in the safety of arrest interest. I gifted towards the public the these people : that ought to be investigated," Vaxevanis said.

"Journalism could be to uncover the facts when others try and obscure it. Everything altogether different is public relations," he added, paraphrasing George Orwell.

Greek government bodies today face criminal court suspicion them to tried using for you to shoot the actual messenger simply by sending Vaxevanis right away to help court, when for just two years some people efficiently sitting for the listing and took not any action.

"This may be a situation which has grave issue with regard to this arrest interest, your liberty associated with (the) press," Ikonomopoulos said.

He claimed his client must have been praised for his valor in sending that record to gentle rather as compared with being considered that will court.

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