House to decide whether to lift Polakis’s immunity

After prosecutors Tuesday gave Parliament the case file concerning allegations that Alternate Health Minister Pavlos Polakis recorded a private telephone conversation with Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras without his consent, the House is now set to decide whether to lift the former’s immunity so he can face felony charges.

Stournaras testified to a prosecutor last month that Polakis informed him during the call that he was recording their conversation.Stournaras said that Polakis did so without requesting his consent.

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 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.