Greek Deputy Minister of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction Giorgos Katrougalos faces new allegations as the journalist who brought to light the supposed contracts with laid off public employees said he has more evidence of the Deputy Minister’s unethical activities. Vasilis Chiotis, writer of the original report and director of Vima FM radio station, spoke on the radio on Monday and said that Katrougalos was advisor at the Education Ministry in 2012 while at the same time was representing the interests of private learning institutions that were seeking legislative reforms to their benefit. Chiotis said he has more documents at hand that will prove the Deputy Minister’s unethical behavior. The two men confronted each other on Greek television. Katrougalos denied all allegations and called Chiotis a “disgraceful human being.” Chiotis said that he will come forth with more evidence against the Deputy Minister. Further allegations had Katrougalos taking a case representing Larissa Municipality employees in February 2015, when he was already sworn in. Larissa Mayor Apostolis Kalogiannis spoke of distortion of the truth, claiming that the employees were represented by Katrougalos’ associate, Katerina Laina. Later, in an official statement, Katrougalos said that he will not step down from his duties as lawyer, as he believes he has done nothing wrong. He announced that he will ask to lift political asylum concerning his private agreements and that he will take legal action against “To Vima” unless it prints a retraction. Meanwhile, German tabloid Bild picked up the story and printed an article entitled “A corruption scandal in Tsipras’ incorruptible government.” The article has all the details and comments that the case is likely to keep Alexis Tsipras’ government very busy in the following days. Katrougalos said he will take legal action against Bild too unless there is a retraction forthcoming. The official line from the Greek government is that all these allegations are orchestrated in order to hurt the new government.
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