Varoufakis: Tsipras had eyed 17 bln euros in deposit boxes

Former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has claimed that, in the summer of 2015 when Greece faced a liquidity crisis, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had suggested the Greek state could plunder billions of euros of citizens' cash from safe deposit boxes.

In comments on Action 24 television channel on Friday night, Varoufakis said that sources "outside Greece" had told him there was 17 billion euros in cash in safe deposit boxes at provincial branches of the Bank of Greece.

During an informal meeting at the Maximos Mansion, there were suggestions, "some by the prime minister," that the government should take that money, he said. 

"I disagreed. That is not our money, the Left does not steal," he said.

However, he said the money could be taken by abandoning the euro.

"I told Tsipras, the only way to take that money is to go to the drachma," he said. ...