Another incredible case of fraudsters who managed to damage the Greek state by €13.4 million through a network of companies has been uncovered by the Authority for Combating Revenue from Illegal Activities. The Authority’s investigation began when they detected an unusually high tax refund that exceeded €4,000,000 for just one fiscal year across a network of 32 companies.
Teams from the Anti-Money Laundering Authority, headed by former Supreme Court deputy prosecutor Charalampos Vourliotis, began an investigation with the assistance of specialized scientific personnel. Ultimately, it emerged that the damage to the Greek state is multiple times greater, as it includes amounts from overdue debts that the audited companies managed to create, as well as VAT and income tax debts for individuals.
The companies that were targeted
The companies that were targeted appear to have been newly established with a deadline of December 2023 with very small capital and had a specific legal form of IKE (Private Capital Company), usually single-member. What also raised suspicions is how, although they began their activity in 2023, they managed to show an exceptionally large turnover percentage with a limited number of clients and suppliers. Additionally, the person who signed the financial and tax statements had other pending issues.
In any case, the declarations of the 32 audited companies were cleared by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue on a specific date, without the required audit having preceded for most of them.
Indeed, as it emerged, the tax refund was credited to their accounts on the same day, and many times the audited persons proceeded to withdraw cash or transfer funds to third-party accounts.
The head of the Authority, Charalampos Vourliotis, based on evidence of specific criminal acts, proceeded to freeze the assets of 19 audited persons and submitted a relevant multi-page report to the competent prosecutor, in order to investigate a series of felony acts, such as criminal organization, tax evasion, fraud and money laundering.
