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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's former finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, was indicted Thursday before a special court on criminal charges over his handling of data on Greeks holding Swiss bank accounts.
A council of Supreme Court judges ruled that Papaconstantinou, 53, should stand trial for attempted breach of faith, and tampering with an official document.
The Socialist former minister denies wrongdoing. If convicted, he faces a minimum 10-year prison sentence.
The indictment alleges that Papaconstantinou, who handled Greece's first international bailout in 2010, removed the names of three of his relatives from a list of 2,062 names provided by French authorities in 2010 when he was in office. Greek authorities failed to investigate the list for potential tax evasion.
According to the indictment, Papaconstantinou allegedly deleted his relatives' names to protect his political career and to save them paying some 1.9 million euros ($2.4 million) in total in taxes allegedly due on the deposits.
The court also ruled that no charges should be pressed against Papaconstantinou's relatives.
No date has been set for a trial.
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