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A check carried out in Karpenisi municipality shows that former minister in two Greek governments Michalis Liapis has cheated the state authorities in several ways. A month ago, he was caught driving without a driver's licence and with false registration plates, and was later accused of building a villa with money from the European Development Funds.

The latest news related to the "Liapis saga" is that he has declared an incorrect area of the villa in question in order to save the cost of municipal taxes. In particular, mayor of Karpenisi Kostas Bakogiannis states that instead of the actual 233.05 square metres Liapis has declared for his winter "palace" an area of only 70 square metres.

According to the report of the municipality, the former minister has "omitted" to declare an area of 163.05 square metres, thus saving the payment of 250.80 euro in municipal taxes per year.

Over the past two years, the municipality of Karpenisi has carried out regular checks by comparing the areas of the houses declared by their owners with the data available to the Public Power Corporation DEI since the municipal fees and building permits are paid to its account.

Following the publications in the Greek press related to the financing of Michalis Liapis’ villa in the village of Megalo Horio mayor Kostas Bakogiannis (Dora Bakogiannis’ son - author’s note) has ordered a special check of this case and according to the inspectors, over the past three years the municipal funds have incurred losses to the amount of 752.40 euro.

The municipality has informed DEI about the difference in the area of the property and ordered a check for previous years. According to sources, this will not be an easy task, since, before the last reform of the municipal administration, the archives in the villages were handwritten. The current legal framework allows the local authorities to carry out checks for a period of five years.

"The old man of democracy (George Papandreou, the former Prime Minister’s grandfather - author’s note) had said that the walls of politicians’ houses should be made of glass. Democracy does not bend due to the economic crisis but due to the widespread sense of impunity. We will continue with the inspections in order to investigate as deeply as possible and to begin restoring confidence in public affairs," said Kostas Bakogiannis.

Meanwhile, Michalis Liapis was detected crossing the border between Greece and Bulgaria at Promachon border crossing, travelling alone in his car. According to sources, the staff had carefully checked both him and the details of his car, indicating that the former minister was particularly helpful during the procedure. It is worth noting that such checks are not normally carried out when going from one European Union member state to another. The final destination of Liapis is not clear for the time being but, supposedly, it was Romania.