Former financial crime squad head cleared in ‘Lagarde list’ trial

An appeals court on Tuesday cleared the former head of the Financial Crime Squad (SDOE), Yiannis Diotis, of any wrongdoing in the handling of the so-called Lagarde list of wealthy Greeks with Swiss bank deposits, named after the former head of the International Monetary Fund and one-time French finance minister Christine Lagarde – now head of the European Central Bank.

The court accepted the proposal of a prosecutor who deemed that Diotis had never committed any offenses while handling the list.

The former SDOE chief had appealed against a suspended 10-year prison term he was given in 2017 by a first instance court which deemed that he had not used the information on the list and had protected those who were named on it.

Commenting on Tuesday, Diotis said he was “dragged through the mud, like a criminal, for seven years.”

“I did not violate the law. I upheld the law,” he said.