THE GREEK KLEPTOCRACY

I think it was Taki Theodoracopoulos in The Spectator who coined the term “Kleptocracy”, and sadly he hit the target fair and square; Greece is a country ruled by Thieves (Kleftes). I love Greece and the Greeks and we have a cherished summer house on the lovely island of Samos. My wife inherited property in Athens, which we have to look after as we cannot sensibly sell it in current dead markets. In Athens you can see the regime close-up; the Thieves are utterly rampant and they bring disgrace, ruin and dishonour to their great historic nation.

You will say that I exaggerate, but the truth is worse than I can describe. The corruption of Greece starts at the very top, among the leadership of the two main political parties, rightist New Democracy and leftist PASOK, and the smaller parties too. The corruption extends to the Civil Service, the Banks, the Professions, the Police, the Media and to the larger-scale Business Community. This is the world of huge bribes (mizes) and of undeclared favours, of blatant embezzlement and extortionate commissions. There are probably some 10,000 Greek souls profiting happily this way, on the backs of the ordinary citizens. Below that, the corruption is equally pervasive, among farmers, shop-keepers, minor civil servants, bank officials; this is the world of nepotism, of mutual back-scratching, of the little brown envelope (fakelaki), the dreary business of getting anything at all done. Significant sections of the nation are stuck in a kind of Ottoman apathy with hands extended for a “bung” and nothing much is done to clean up the mess. But I have talked about all this before and you will ask, so what’s new?

Akis Tsochatzopoulos starts 20 years jail

Some progress has been made in “Cleansing the Augean Stables”. A big fish, Akis Tsochatzopoulos, almost a PASOK prime minister in 1996, has been sent to 20 years imprisonment for money-laundering $79m in bribes from German submarine and Russian missile contracts during his time as Minister of Defence from 1996 to 2001. He is now 75 and will likely only serve 4 years in prison. His crimes are ancient history and are only the tip of the iceberg. 16 of Akis’ associates, including two wives, received long stretches too. But at least the public prosecutors are active. A senior civil servant at the Ministry of Defence has admitted to pocketing €9m in bribes and is “singing” to the prosecutors, hopefully implicating others. 

A more crucial issue is who was responsible for deliberately lying to the people and to the European Union about the state of the Greek national finances as the government joined the Eurozone in 2001 and squandered more afterwards until the 2010 bailout? Senior political figures are in the spotlight. Already the former finance minister 2009-11, ex-PASOK technocrat, George Papaconstantinou, is to be tried for allegedly doctoring the “Lagarde List”, a list of Greek potential tax-evaders with deposits in HSBC Geneva, obtained by the IMF. He has been skilfully pursued by the lady star of leftist Syriza, Zoe Konstantopoulou, a persistent lawyer who takes no nonsense and who doughtily upholds due process and parliamentary investigation rights.

Papaconstantinou in hot water

Zoe Konstantopoulou, scourge of corruption

 

              

The New Democracy / PASOK coalition has until 2016 to face elections but its slim majority of 153 in a 300-seat parliament is always under siege. The coalition polls dismally in public opinion polls (especially PASOK, struggling at about 5%) but it will hang onto power like grim death. After all, they have been swapping office for the last 40 years, looting their country and scratching each others’ backs. Their deputies shelter behind statutes of limitations and tight parliamentary immunity and they love the trappings of office and their high salaries (while ordinary citizens’ pensions and benefits are cut by 60%). In 2014 Leftist Syriza, Centrist Independent Greeks and Fascist Golden Dawn will poll well in the European elections – but that is a side-show. The coalition deputies know that come 2016 there will be an electoral tsunami and quite a few should, if there is any justice, face arrest and imprisonment.

Conservative New Democracy – 27% support in the opinion polls - has had its snout in the trough quite as much as PASOK. The Siemens scandal rumbles on (funny how so many of the bribing companies are German) even after Siemens coughed up €330m in 2012 to settle the brouhaha over disputed contracts stretching back 20 years. Germany refuses to extradite her citizens to face trial in Greece. Yet the Germans are not slow to interfere in Greek internal affairs. Erstwhile Finance Minister Schauble observed that 80% of Greeks are home-owners as against only 40% in Germany and applauded the Greek government’s attack on home ownership. Property taxes have risen 7-fold since 2008 impoverishing the middle class. Maybe the Germans want cut-price Greek properties for themselves - Occupation by economic pressure as opposed to their 1940 effort. Yet in truth Germany and the EU has every excuse for disgust at the performance over the years of the Greek political “elite” and its dishonest ways.

Chairman Filippidis of Postbank

The moribund and serially incompetent Greek banks have also disgraced themselves. Hellenic Postbank was a quasi-nationalised institution owned by the Greek Post Office. In January 2014 its Chairman, Angelos Filippidis, fled but was arrested in Istanbul, where he had stashed some of his cash. It is alleged he and 39 others wildly lent large unsecured loans to themselves and their cronies since 2008 costing the Greek taxpayer – who had to recapitalise the bank – a whopping €400m. Some of the loans, suspiciously, went to New Democracy and to PASOK, who were in no position to repay. Similarly, the Agricultural Bank ATEbank, which had to be rescued, is also being investigated.

Greek banks seem indifferent to their reputation for fair dealing. We personally had a wrangle with a private Greek bank, a big shot in Greece but a pipsqueak internationally. We refinanced a loan, having to provide security, but repaid the old loan and paid the historic expenses, all recorded by the court and notarised. About 3 months later a lawyer who had done some early work for the bank, emerged out of the woodwork. He rendered a wholly fanciful bill for €1,700 of historic expenses, which we had neither incurred nor approved. This bill was debited to our account, as the bank seems to have given a general authority to this lawyer to charge its customers and use its call-centre at will. We have protested loudly to the bank but its officials just shrug their shoulders or pass the buck. The lawyer probably billed the bank, who refused the charge, then thought he would try it on with us. We have to go to court, as the bank is likely to be acting in collusion with this lawyer – one of the toxic flock of “Vultures” highly active in thieving Greece these days, earning large amounts in extortion payments.

A 90-year old Athens lady scours dustbins in January 2014

The Rule of Thieves has left Greece stunned and impoverished. Despite the mendacious claims of Prime Minister Samaras, Greece is not recovering: unemployment is a horrific 27.8%, youth unemployment a nightmarish 64%, industrial production has dropped 30% since 2008 and its current monthly rate of decline is 3.9%: the best and brightest are emigrating, over 200,000 since the crisis took hold. Misery, poverty and deprivation are everywhere, to Europe’s shame.  Greece needs a new government and 20 years of resolute and honest government. It needs entirely to eliminate its embedded culture of deceit, to leave the Eurozone, where it cannot compete economically, and probably to leave the European Union where it has been an uneasy club member.  The Greeks will work out their own destiny in their own inimitable way.

SMD

1.02.14

Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2014