Stournaras testifies over phone call recording

Testifying before a prosecutor Tuesday, Bank of Greece Governor Yiannis Stournaras is said to have accused Alternate Health Minister Pavlos Polakis of illegally recording a telephone conversation between them.

Stournaras allegedly claimed that Polakis told him, during the conversation on his cell phone, that he was recording the call but had not requested his consent to do so.

Greece’s central banker was also quoted as saying that Polakis only denied that the recording had taken place after the prosecutor had stepped in.

The conversation between the two men concerned a decision by Stournaras to question the management of Attica Bank – which is under the purview of the Bank of Greece and not of the European Central Bank – over a decision to grant Polakis 100,000 euros’ worth of personal loans secured against a property with a 300,000-euro mortgage.