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54,000 Greeks with bank transfers of 54 billion euro abroad

15 January 2014 / 13:01:32  GRReporter
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The checks of the bank accounts of the Greeks on the “Lagarde list” are being carried out at a very slow pace. From a total of 2,062 cases and 1,700 cases of verified matches between a name and an account, the authorities have issued orders to investigate only 266 names. However, the investigation of only 155 individuals and legal entities has progressed and it is expected that the results will be announced at the end of January as stated by special secretary of the service combating financial crime Stilianos Stasinopoulos, who presented the data to the members of the parliamentary commission on institutions and transparency.

He stated that the checks had detected six persons who had concealed a total of 10 million euro but refused to disclose the names of the account holders, referring to the confidentiality of the investigation. However, the subsequent discussions in parliament expressed opinions that former Minister of Finance George Papakonstantinou’s relatives were among these six people. According to Naftemporiki newspaper, the case is about two people who had concealed an income of 3.7 million euro and Papakonstantinou’s four relatives who had concealed an income totalling 6.3 million euro.

In response to attacks by deputies that the checks were slow, Stasinopoulos said that as a result of the work of the service individuals would repay 300 million euro to the state funds and companies several times this amount. In this regard, he said that the service had detected the following:

- 52 farmers who must repay to the state 54 million euro in VAT due and funding.

- 18 lawyers who have to pay a total of 23 million euro.

- Service providing companies that owe 29 million euro.

- Seven persons, who are required by law to submit an asset declaration each year, must pay 8 million euro.

- Two artists owe the amount of 4.2 million euro.

Stasinopoulos added that in the period 2008-2011, 54,000 Greeks had transferred to foreign banks an amount totalling 54 billion euro. According to initial estimates, the income of the individuals who had exported the money abroad during that period cannot account for 22 billion euro of this amount.

A little later, the Greek Ministry of Finance denied the reports that 54 billion euro had been exported from Greece and specified that the total sum of the amounts established in the 54,000 bank transfers made ​​in the period 2009-2011 was 22 billion euro.

The Ministry pointed out that the checks had been carried out at a faster pace in recent months since 44 cases were investigated in November and December and that due to the checks completed so far about 18.5 million had been repaid to the state funds.

Tags: Bank transfersLagarde listService fighting financial crimeGeorge Papakonstantinou
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