Greek MP sent €1m abroad

The Greek government has threatened to name and shame politicians accused of funnelling huge sums of money abroad in spite of a call to ordinary Greeks to return their savings to the country’s cash-strapped banks.

Greeks have withdrawn about €65bn in savings since the onset of the debt crisis in 2009, stashing most of it at home or in safety deposit boxes fearing the country might have to ditch the currency and return to the drachma.

Controversy erupted this week when the head of the judiciary’s money-laundering watchdog, prosecutor Panagiotis Nikoloudis, said a member of the Greek parliament sent €1m to a Swiss bank in mid-2011.