WORLD : Papandreou Shuns Banking Probe
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ATHENS — Former Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou refused today to testify before a parliamentary committee investigating a banking scandal that rocked his defeated Socialist government.
The opposition leader sent a letter to the committee questioning the legality of its summons and procedures, parliamentary sources said.
Papandreou and four of his senior ministers are being investigated in connection with the $200-million embezzlement scandal at the private Bank of Crete. Former bank owner George Koskotas, now held in the United States awaiting extradition to Greece, has accused Socialist officials of approving a plan to pocket interest payments on state accounts at the bank.
They could face jail terms if Parliament votes to lift their immunity and clears the way for criminal prosecution.
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