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24 MPs of New Democracy have submitted a parliamentary inquiry with regard to the disclosures of the actions of Yanis Varoufakis. They have addressed it personally to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, asking him to clarify whether he was aware of the plans of the former Minister of Finance to introduce in Greece a national currency by creating a parallel banking system and stealing public equipment and personal data.

The MEPs note that Varoufakis’ plan B described in the article of the newspaper Kathimerini is a violation that suggests the seeking of not only political, but also criminal liability. Therefore, they urge Alexis Tsipras to respond as an institution if he knew the details of the plan described, if he had approved it and to specify the actions he would take with regard to the political and criminal investigation of the case.

Photo: kathimerini.gr

Meanwhile the OMFIF forum at which the former Minister of Finance made his statements on 16 July (some days after being removed from government) has provided the recording by his explicit permission.

At the 4th minute of the recording, Varoufakis is beginning to analyze the main points compiling his plan B. Just before the 5th minute, he is describing how they were going to create alternative accounts of all Greek taxpayers, including through smartphone applications. For this purpose, they would have issued new pin codes, which in turn would have formed a parallel payment system.

After the 6th minute, Varoufakis is speaking of a parallel banking system that would have allowed the government to act when the European Central Bank would close Greek banks. Shortly after that, at the 6:40 minute, he is describing Secretary for State Revenue Katerina Savaidou as "controlled from Brussels."

In the middle of the 7th minute he is speaking about his childhood friend whom he had hired at the ministry to hack the software program of the Ministry of Finance.

The entire recording is available here:

A few hours after the media disseminated the recording, the former Minister of Finance made a statement about the case in his personal blog. It is worth noting that it is written in the third person.

He states in the beginning the following: "During the Greek government’s negotiations and until the referendum, Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis oversaw a working group with a remit to prepare contingency plans against the creditors’ efforts to undermine the Greek government and in view of forces at work within the euro zone to have Greece expelled from the euro. The working group was convened by the Minister, at the behest of the Prime Minister, and was coordinated by Professor James K. Galbraith."

Then a tirade follows in which Varoufakis states that he was the target of strong criticism from the media and that the government had no contingency plan in the case of Grexit and continues, "Ever since Mr Varoufakis announced the existence of the working group, the media have indulged in far-fetched articles that damage the quality of public debate, attempting to describe the group as a ‘conspiracy’ working on the return to the national currency. This is defamation. The Ministry of Finance’s working group worked exclusively within the framework of government policy and its recommendations were always aimed at serving the public interest, at respecting the laws of the land, and at keeping the country in the euro zone." The full text of Yanis Varoufakis’ statement in English and Greek is available here: http: //yanisvaroufakis.eu/2015/07/27/statement-by-yanis-varoufakis-on-th ...

In addition he published a public statement by Professor Galbraith in which he admits that he was a coordinator of the working group.

"Since a great deal of public confusion has recently arisen over the group's work, the following should be stated:

1. At no time was the group engaged in advocating Greece's exit from the euro zone or any other change in government policy. The job was strictly to study to the issue of liquidity (IOU) in euro or actions that should be taken in the event that some had tried to force the country out of the euro zone.

2. The group operated under the axiom that the government was fully committed to negotiating within the euro and therefore took extreme precautions not to jeopardize that commitment by allowing any hint of our work to reach the outside world. Indeed, there were no leaks whatever until the existence of the group was disclosed by the former Minister of Finance himself, in response to criticism that his ministry had made no contingency plans when it was known that forces within the euro zone were planning the forced exit of Greece.

3. The existence of preliminary plans could not play any role in the Greek negotiating position, since their circulation (before there was a need to implement them) would have destabilized the government policy.

4. Apart from one late, inconclusive, telephone conversation between SYRIZA MP Costas Lapavitsas and myself, we had no coordination with the Left Platform and our working group’s ideas had little in common with theirs.

5. Our work ended for practical purposes in early May, with a detailed memorandum outlining major issues and scenarios that we studied.

6. My work in this area was unofficial and unpaid, based on my friendship with Yanis Varoufakis and on my respect for the cause of the Greek people."