Greece says raid on ex-UBS man part of tax clampdown

A police raid on the home of a former UBS banker earlier this month was part of a campaign to bring those accused of tax fraud to “justice”, Athens said Tuesday.

“This is one more case where Greek authorities acted methodically and efficiently to hand out justice,” government spokeswoman Olga Gerovassili said in a statement.

The Financial Times revealed Tuesday that on July 4 authorities raided the home of former UBS head of investment banking in Greece, Christos Sclavounis, removing computers, documents and disks.

Greek police were not immediately available for comment.

Sclavounis in 2013 was appointed to head Greece’s bank rescue fund, but resigned in 2015, two months after left-wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras came to power.

Tsipras' government has pledged to crack down on endemic tax evasion in Greece.

“The country and its citizens cannot perpetually be held hostage by corruption,” Gerovassili said.

In December, financial prosecutors had also raided the investment bank's headquarters in Athens.

[AFP]