Former Greece Finance Minister Yanis Varaufakis has confirmed to have been involved in the development of a parallel payment system in the wake of the nation’s debt crisis.
As per a teleconference transcript, dating back to last December, obtained by the right-wing Greek daily Kathimerini, the said Syriza party member had created a contingency plan only after getting the nod from the Prime Minster Alexis Tsipras. The so-called plan was focused on creating the Euro liquidity if, in case, the European Central Bank calls to cut off the emergency funding to Greece.
“The prime minister, before we won the election in January, had given me the green light to come up with a Plan B,” Varaufakis had told his interlocutors. “And I assembled a very able team, a small team as it had to be because that had to be kept completely under wraps for obvious reasons.”
By saying so, the aforementioned team would hack into the government’s databases to steal taxpayers’ information. This stolen data would be used to create a parallel payment system in case the banks would close. However, Varaufakis’s close associate managed to control only hardware, but was still far behind controlling the software that was allegedly being operated by the Troika. It is the same EU organization which Varaufakis had accused of controlling the Greek taxing system.
Despite being a well-intentioned plan that could have given Greeks the opportunity to exchange their Euros with Drachma in the time of economic turmoil, it is now sending shivers back to its alleged mastermind. As reported by multiple media outlets, Varaufakis will now be tried for five treason charges, including the hacking of taxpayers’ accounts.
The ex-minister, meanwhile, has penned an article on the Financial Times to explain his end of the story, saying that he had never hidden the plans to create a parallel payment system for Greece. You can read the article here.