Potential Wisconsin Democrat Gubernatorial Candidate Has Troubling Ties to Greek Banking Crisis

With several major contenders refusing to run for governor in 2018, Wisconsin Democrats continue to struggle to recruit a serious candidate. Now, a new report details how their latest prospect Daniel Speckhard – the former U.S. Ambassador to Greece – has a troubled past, including a failed career in the Greek banking industry, connections to embezzlement schemes, scandal and criminal investigations. If Speckhard is the standard bearer for Wisconsin Democrats in 2018, their troubles at the ballot box won’t be coming to an end anytime soon.

Media Trackers reports:

“Wisconsin Democrats have cast their net far and wide to look for a potential candidate for governor. Some are hoping that a former ambassador to Greece, Daniel Speckhard, could be the one. However, Speckhard’s brief career in the Greek banking industry may make his candidacy more difficult.

After leaving his ambassadorship, Speckhard was picked by businessman Lavrentis Lavrentiadis to become the chairman of the board of Proton Bank in Athens in February, 2011.

By November 2011, the assets of more than 30 executives of Proton Bank were frozen as Greek authorities investigated a massive embezzlement scheme.

Despite the irregularities, Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos authorized a one-day deposit of $130 million of government money in Proton Bank to avoid the bank’s collapse.

The transaction was declared illegal by Greece’s General Accounting Office…

Attempts were made to reach Speckhard at his current position as CEO of Lutheran World Relief, through the Brookings Institution where he is a nonresident senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program, and at a telephone number found on the Internet for his home residence in McLean, Virginia, to ask him about his relationship with Lavrentiadis and his time as the chairman of Proton Bank when it was shut down. They were unsuccessful.”