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New revelations about Giorgos Stathakis' income have triggered yet more turbulence in the government.

According to reports, Stathakis' assets declaration lodged in parliament in 2012 and referring to 2011 is missing no less than $1.8 million. The cash is in the form of deposits, which Stathakis owns jointly with his mother and brother.

The same sources refuted the statement Statakis made yesterday claiming that the revelations concern several agricultural plots of his wife, which are subject to legal disputes. According to sources, it is a case of undeclared sharers amounting to anywhere between 3% and 66% in a total of 38 properties. It is alleged that some of these properties are large commercial buildings in the centre of Chania.

It should be noted that the findings were not the result of an investigation by the competent authorities. They came to light after the supplementary declaration submitted by Stathakis. According to experienced lawyers, however, the data will land the minister in big trouble as they prove that he has submitted a false declaration, at least for 2012.

The competent parliamentary committee decided yesterday to assign auditors with further investigation. They can resort to all instruments made available by the law, including bank account disclosures. It is the first time that these kind of measures are targeting a government minister.

In his statement, Stathakis tried to tone down the hype around him, still without hiding his irritation with the actions of the parliamentary committee.

"The accounts belong to my mother, with her two children – my brother and I – being co-owners. This was declared back in 2013. In 2014, I withdrew from the accounts," the minister said. He added: "As far as the properties are concerned, there isn't even a minimal infraction. Some farming plots belong to my wife: they are the subject of litigation, and my wife has no more than a 3% share in them. They were declared in 2013 and 2014."

However, the question remains why the minister did not say from the very beginning that he owned, apart from the million, properties, which he had "forgotten" to declare.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor of the first instance court in Athens, Eleni Touloupaki, has brought up charges against SYRIZA's former MP Alexis Mitropoulos, for tax evasion and money laundering. It happened after the prosecution was warned by the competent tax office. The case is actually 16 years old. It transpired that Mitropoulos has failed to document some attorney fees he received and now stands accused of tax evasion to the amount of €440,000. Outstanding interest almost doubles the former MP's liability. The case gained publicity in September and led to Mitropoulos' removal from SYRIZA's candidate lists.

The case came into the crosshairs of the justice system when two other lawyers accused Mitropoulos of having failed to give them their part of the fee. The subsequent check revealed that the amount in question had not been declared for tax purposes.

Mitropoulos denies the charges and talks about political persecution against him. He released a statement, in which he mentions mafia methods and left-wing shenanigans. He also pledges he will continue to defend his ideas and criticize the memorandum policies just as he always has: since the junta years, when he was imprisoned and tortured, until today.

The former MP accuses financial agency employees of being involved in a design for his political destruction.

Mitropoulos calls on justice minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos and the minister for the fight against corruption, Dimitris Papangelopoulos, to open his tax record to the public. Mitropoulos also appealed to the President for help.

The former SYRIZA MP believes that the one responsible for the actions against him is no other but Prime Minister Tsipras.