ATHENS – Three rival politicians of the former ruling Radical Left SYRIZA who accused them of taking bribes from the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis – an alleged scandal that unraveled without any proof – are set to talk to a prosecutor about the case.

Former Prime Minister and then-New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras and Evangelos Venizelos, who served as his finance chief as a member of the now-defunct PASOK Socialists in a coalition with the Conservatives are first up.

They will be followed, said the business newspaper Naftemporiki, by former health minister Andreas Loverdos, who was also with PASOK,  one of 10 targets of SYRIZA and prosecutors, seven already cleared.

A prosecutor is looking into whether SYRIZA's former alternative justice minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos, meddled in the case to push a fake scandal to benefit the sagging leftists before they were ousted in July 7, 2019 snap polls by New Democracy in a rout.

Greece's former chief anti-corruption prosecutor Eleni Touloupaki, who kept pushing the case despite no evidence beyond the word of three alleged whistleblowers is also being investigated for not dropping it.