Tsipras accuses Mitsotakis government of corruption and favouring funds over borrowers

Corruption and the tax authority

Former prime minister Alexis Tsipras, who now leads the Greek Left Alliance (ELAS), launched a sharp attack on the government in an interview with Best TV, a local channel in Kalamata, Messinia, published on Monday, 2 November 2026. Asked about a series of corruption cases that appear to be moving toward the courts, he wondered why they had not surfaced over the previous seven years. He placed the blame on the current prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in these words:

“The country is sinking into corruption, with the chief priest of corruption being the prime minister of the country, Mr Mitsotakis.”

Tsipras also tied the government to the tax authority AADE. He said Mitsotakis had renewed the term of its head, Giorgos Pitsilis, for a third consecutive term, although the law provided for two. In his view the government therefore shares responsibility for the leadership's inaction on complaints about tax evasion and tax avoidance by certain companies. Citing press reports, he said 25 AADE officials were taking money from the company Choriatiko, and that lower-ranking AADE services had sent briefings and proposals on handling the matter from June 2025. He also asked how the authority could tackle the OPEKEPE affair, which he called possibly one of the biggest scandals this government has handled, now that the case had been placed under AADE.

Bad loans and article 23

The government withdrew article 23, a provision on bad loans, after a wave of public outcry. Tsipras argued that the provision would have let foreclosure proceedings begin without any prior court ruling. He accused the finance minister, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, and the prime minister of claiming the article would help borrowers, and he demanded to know who had dictated the provision to them. He said Greeks were entitled to hear those answers.

“It is clear who this government works for, Mr Pierrakakis and Mr Mitsotakis.”

Funds and foreclosure auctions

Tsipras said the government's policy from December 2019 onward gave funds the power to take over distressed loans. He claimed that 97% of loans had passed from banks to funds within three years, with the funds acquiring them at 20% of their value and then pursuing borrowers for 80% to 90%. He pointed to the Hercules programme as allowing much of that transfer. Tsipras contrasted this with his own time in office, saying that under the 2015 framework imposed by the troika, not one euro of bank loans went to funds while he was prime minister. He also said property auctions in 2025 were five times more numerous than in the entire 2015-2019 five-year period, and that auction numbers had doubled in 2025 and 2026.