Judicial authorities launched a preliminary inquiry into claims made by International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde concerning death threats she allegedly received after pushing for a clampdown on Greek tax evasion. Supreme Court Prosecutor Efterpi Kotzamani ordered the inquiry following claims made by Ms. Lagarde and similar allegations by opposition Coalition of the Left SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras.

Ms. Lagarde revealed that her criticism of Greek tax evasion had lead to threats during an interview with the Financial Times last week:

“I better not say too much because, you know, when I have 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 don’t think so.”

This comment prompted Justice Minister Haralambos Athanasiou to send a letter to Lagarde asking for details about the threats.