Prosecutor to probe alleged phone recording by minister

The head of the Athens prosecutor's office, Evangelos Ioannidis, on Tuesday ordered an investigation into the alleged taping by Alternate Health Minister Pavlos Polakis of a private phone conversation with Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras.

The conversation between the two men concerned a decision by Stournaras earlier in the day to question the management of Attica Bank over a decision to grant Polakis 100,000 euros' worth of personal loans secured against a property with a 300,000-euro mortgage.

Attica Bank is under the purview of the Greek central bank and not the European Central Bank.

In the transcripts, leaked to a pro-government newspaper, Polakis is demanding that Stournaras opens a probe into loans granted to certain political parties, officials and media, otherwise he "will come down there and will not leave."

The central banker...