Antonis Diamataris’ world turned upside down just as he set foot Down Under.

Prior to his departure from Athens Airport, there was no indication of what would follow in the 21-hour flight, and Mr Diamataris had tweeted his “joy” regarding his trip to Sydney to “meet our brothers and listen to their views”.

The mood had changed significantly by the time he arrived, accompanied by his wife and secretary. Picked up at Kingsford Smith Airport in Sydney, he was taken to his hotel. Soon after, he issued a statement: “In the past few days, I have received personal attacks which are disorienting and aim to undermine the government and the prime minister, which I love and respect, as well as to undermine my work. For this reason, I submitted to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, with great pain, my resignation.”

Neos Kosmos sources state that he was forced to resign upon his arrival following scandals. The New York-based publisher had come under heavy criticism that he had never graduated from an MBA course listed on his CV on the ministry website. After he was exposed to the media for his fake CV, Mr Diamataris said that he had attended lectures but “financial reasons” had prevented him from receiving the degree, even though he had bought his newspaper, The National Herald, that same year.

PHOTO: Deputy Minister Diamataris resigns over ‘fake CV’ and other allegations upon arriving in Australia to meet with the diaspora

Further expositions, however, brought to light that he had also declared a fake year of birth (1959, instead of 1950), and the Ministry even removed his studies at Queen’s College from the CV on the website.

Other media reports accused Mr Diamataris of violating the Greek Constitution by having business interests while holding a ministerial post. He was still active as the Chief Executive Officer of The National Herald and managed real estate in New York via the company Diamataris Properties Ltd.

On Wednesday, it was revealed that he had appointed Tasos Philippakos, the former manager of a Greek defence company as his ‘advisor’, a controversial appointment bearing in mind that Mr Philippakos was being investigated by Greek Justice for having cost losses of 1 billion dollars to the Greek state over a 10-year period.

Greek Consulate General to Melbourne, Dimitris Michalopoulos, confirmed to Neos Kosmos that Mr Diamataris’ resignation had been accepted by Mr Mitsotakis on Thursday.

READ MORE: ‘I am coming to listen to you,’ says Antonis Diamataris, Deputy Foreign Minister for Greeks Abroad

Despite being relieved from official duties, he followed the proposed plan of what would have been his 8-day official visit and attended a service at St Nicholas Marrickville Church, presided over by Greek Orthodox Archbishop Makarios. SBS reported he appeared “timid and quiet”, and he did not address the crowd as planned.

He spent the next day in Sydney and is taking a flight back to Athens on Friday.

The official was to have met with diaspora groups in Melbourne on Saturday, however these events have been scheduled.