Varoufakis facing treason charge for hacking accounts

Greece’s Supreme Court has forwarded complaints filed by a prosecutor and a mayor to parliament.

Five different cases have been opened against the team Varoufakis put together to hack into taxation service files, including US economist, James K. Galbraith. However, the Greek Parliament may decide to overturn that rule after reviewing the allegations.

“It can all happen quite fast,” Anna Asimakopoulou, a leading member of the conservative New Democracy party, was quoted as saying by The Times.

It’s unlikely that Varoufakis will actually ever be prosecuted – the suits filed simply can’t be handled by Greece’s judiciary because he’s a former minister.

The Times reports that all those implicated face charges including breach of privacy and operating as a criminal gang.

Mr Varoufakis, who stepped down as finance minister this month, has played down the initiative as a contingency plan that was never implemented.

MR Varoufakis this week confirmed he assembled a small team to prepare a parallel payment system as part of a so-called “Plan B” in case Greece was forced to leave the eurozone, prompting shock and outrage from opposition lawmakers who have demanded an inquiry into the matter.

The furore piled new pressure on a premier struggling to contain a leftist party revolt.

Yanis Varoufakis resigned on July 6, stating that he was aware that his resignation could help the prime minister reach an agreement with the country’s creditors.

At one point, the moderator cautioned Varoufakis that other people were listening to the teleconference but would not repeat its contents.

The former finance minister warned that this was coming when he spoke to Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, a journalist at The Telegraph, after the details of the telephone conversation were leaked. “And even if they do I will deny I said it”.

It was reported over the weekend that Varoufakis and former Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis had discussed a plan that involved raiding the Greek central bank’s reserves and hacking into taxpayer accounts in order to return to its old currency.

He has since said that the plans were carried out within “the laws of the land, and at keeping the country in the eurozone”.