House President Demetris Syllouris said Friday a list including the names of politically exposed persons (PEPs) with loans was unreliable and could not assist any substantive investigation.
After the first meeting of an ad hoc committee discussing the list, Syllouris said it included ridiculous entries like a non-performing loan of €10, a credit card debt, and investments that had nothing wrong with them.
The House president said his view was that to do a proper job, the list should be updated to include PEPs who guaranteed loans and whether any had received favorable treatment or rates, and those who took money out of the country.
Syllouris said the committee would reconvene on Monday to decide on its final proposal to the plenum. The project would be either to publish the list as is or not.
Syllouris said he was against its publication, wondering whether ridiculing someone for a €10 debt was the objective.
“Anyone who sees the list would be embarrassed to bring in experts to analyze it,” he said, adding that no expert would take it seriously.
Syllouris said parliament would ask the central bank to update the list with the information sought by MPs.
Friday’s meeting was initially open to reporters, but it was then closed, and they were asked to leave the room after the list was handed over to the committee members.
The PEP document – marked ‘confidential’ – was first delivered to Syllouris by former CBC boss Chrystalla Giorghadji in April of 2019 just before she stepped down.
The issue has been going back and forth since prompting suggestions that parties had something to hide.
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