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The saying "no free lunch" especially during the time of crisis proved to be correct after the revelation of the corruption scandal at the Athens Municipality. It all started when a private manufacturer of ready meals announced to the police that the Director of the Center for the care of the homeless in the Athens city hall has requested 10,000 euros bribe. This amount would guarantee him winning the next municipal tender for the supply of food for homeless people in the social center. 

"Exerted pressure was put upon me to give a bribe. They came to my company in Avlida and their behavior toward me and my staff was extremely offensive," says the entrepreneur quoted by Vima newspaper and continues: "They told me that if I do not give the amount requested, I have no chance of winning the next tender, which is worth about 600,000 euros for the supply of ready meals in care centers for the homeless at city hall." 

Besides the requested bribe, the director of center for homeless asked for 10% of the amount of the previous supply contract that was worth 406,000 euros. The condition was that if the supplier does not give the amount requested, the municipality will not pay their debts to the company, which until yesterday was supplying the home with ready meals for the social activity. 

In order to catch the corrupt municipal official, the police organized an action, in which the businessman had to meet the director and give him the requested amount. The meeting was organized on the highway Athens-Lamia, on northern suburb level station of Kifissia. When the briefcase with the money has exchanged hands, the police made the arrest. 

After the law enforcement, the Athens Mayor George Kaminis revealed to the media that the businessman had first approached him for help. He met the victim in his office over the weekend, where the manufacturer of ready foods revealed details about the case. The mayor informed the police and they drew up action plans to catch the corrupt official. After the discovery of the case Kaminis officially fired the director of the Center for the care of homeless and appointed in his place, municipal councilor George Apostolopoulos. 

"My action should serve as a message to all municipal employees. I will not tolerate any unlawful acts," said Kaminis earlier this week in an official statement and stressed that every citizen, who was a victim of extortion by a public official in one way or another, should seek their legal rights. 

The care center for the homeless in the Athens municipality gives food and clothing collected for thousands of homeless who inhabit the heart of the capital in recent years. Each evening, the organization provides 1500 meals for the homeless and has been doing that for about four years. "I am watching this case and I am stunned. I believe the care center for homeless people deserves a better fate," said the former director of the home Eleftherios Skiadas, who headed the project during the term of former Metropolitan Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis. 

Kaklamanis himself defined the incident as a failure of the current municipal government. It took only seven months for the new municipal authority to tarnish the name of the organization which helps the homeless - one of the weakest groups in society, he argued. Nikitas Kaklamanis noted that the opposition forces in the election campaign accused him of lack of transparency and questioned his managerial decisions, and added with a slight hint of triumph: "The lie has short legs and dirt always finds a way to stain those who throw it."