Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director, received death threats after her criticism of the Greece’s inability to tax the rich. She told it in her recent interview to the Financial Times about the financial crisis and tax evasion in Greece.
She said, "I better not say too much because, you know, when I talked about Greece and its taxes before, I got death threats and we had to increase security... But is the shipping industry really paying its taxes? Are others? I do not think so."
The journalist continued by asking if part of the problem was that many wealthy Greeks moved to places such as London, in search of jobs or lower taxes, to which Lagarde replied that this is not just a Greek problem. "When talented people feel they have to leave their country because they do not feel they can establish their businesses or find opportunities, it is very sad," added the IMF head.
The troika of lending institutions allocated Greece a bailout credit at €240 billion expecting that Greece will implement austerity policy and structural reforms. In particular, the International Monetary Fund required Greece to streamline tax collection.
In 2010, Christine Lagarde being France’s Finance Minister made the list of Greece’s rich people who were hiding their wealth in HSBC in Switzerland. The list of potential Greek tax evaders was passed on to the Greek authorities. However, the list was left without action for two years. In 2012, Lagarde’s list emerged when the Greek mass media published names of VIP tax evaders. So, about 2,000 Greek entrepreneurs are keeping nearly €500 billion on Swiss accounts.