Greece: Former finance minister granted bail

(AP) Greece: Former finance minister granted bail
ATHENS, Greece
A former Greek finance minister has been granted bail of (EURO)50,000 ($66,000) after testifying before a public prosecutor investigating allegations that he submitted false income declarations to tax authorities.

Court officials said Wednesday that Yannos Papantoniou’s wife, Stavroula Kourakou, was also granted bail of (EURO)20,000 ($26,000).

Papantoniou served as Socialist minister of finance and national economy between 1994 and 2003. He is facing a maximum sentence of five years in prison after authorities said he failed to declare money under his wife’s name in an overseas bank account.

The 63-year-old Papantoniou says the money was moved to that account from other bank accounts covered by his tax declarations.

No date for his trial has been set.