Former Chief of Greek national statistics agency back on trial for breach of duty

Former head of Greece's national statistics agency Andreas Georgiou will be back on trial for breach of duty, after an appeal was launched against his recent acquittal, the Greek national news agency AMNA reported Monday.

Earlier this month, a misdemeanors court acquitted him for retaining his position at the International Monetary Fund for a few months after becoming chief of the Hellenic Statistical Authority(ELSTAT), and failing to convene ELSTAT's board of directors for months to ratify decisions, as required by law.

The prosecutor's office appealed the verdict.

Moreover, the statistician also faced charges of making false statements and was under an investigation initiated in August.

Georgiou was accused of artificially inflating Greece's deficit in 2009. Based on these data, Athens turned to the European Union/IMF rescue mechanism in 2010, signing the first bailout program with its international creditors.

The European Commission expressed confidence in the reliability of the data delivered by ELSTAT during Georgiou's term in office from 2010 to 2015.

source: xinhua