Australian businessman promises to pay pension of man who became 'the face of Greek crisis'

An old man sits slumped outside a bank, crying insistently, his document lay on the floor, people stare at him. Security officials make a move to help the man, he cries none the less. The place is Thessaloniki, Greece. The date is 3 June. The man’s name is Giorgos Chatzifotiadis. He is 77 years old. [caption id=“attachment_2335140” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP/Sakis Mitrolidis[/caption] The Washington Post calls him ’the face of Greece’s debt crisis’. Although the photographer, Sakis Mitrolidis, thinks it only a tells part of the story. The image of Chatzifotiadis crying went viral on social media after he failed at four different financial institutions to withdraw a pension of €120 behalf of his wife, reports the Washington Post. But finally, for Chatzifotiadis at least, there might be little light at the end the tunnel. James Koufos, an Australian-born chief executive of a finance firm, saw the photo published in Sydney and thought the retiree looked familiar. The 41-year-old said he was talking to his mother, who lives in Greece, on Facebook and she confirmed Chatzifotiadis was an old friend of his late father, who died 18 months ago, reports the Guardian. Koufos immediately asked his mother to send some financial help and he himself is soon arriving in Greece. The Daily Mail reports him saying that he will use some of the inheritance left to him by his father, and that he has received “four or five thousand” euros in donations from other people moved by Mr Chatzifotiadis’s plight. He aims to offer help to others besides Chatzifotiadis wherever he can, he added. European leaders have given Athens a final deadline of Sunday to reach a new bailout deal and avoid Grexit. Greek voters rejected international creditors’ plans in a referendum over the weekend.