Greek ex-FinMin Found Guilty of Helping Tax Evasion

Former Greek Finance Minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou has been handed a one-year suspended sentence after a court found him guilty of helping three people dodge millions in tax.

One of Greece's previous legislatures was offered by IMF head Christine Lagarde a list of Greek citizens holding offshore accounts, in a move to fight tax evasion - the so-called "Lagarde list".

Magistrates believe the former official indeed removed the names of three people considered close to him from the list.

Papakonstantinou was Finance Minister in PM George Papandreou's government that stepped down in 2011 amid significant pressure over the way Athens tackled with the country's debt crisis.

He was facing a maximum sentence of five years behind bars, since the 13 judges decided not to try him for felony, according to Kathimerini's English-language service.

A special court was established to to try him. All along the process, the defendant insisted he had just transferred the names from a CD to a memory stick.

Various governments in a row have admitted that Greece could bring billions of EUR into the treasury if it manages to crack down on tax evasion.

The Southeastern European nation is still trying to find its way out of years of economic and financial turmoil and could run out of money next month.

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