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New case of non-payment of taxes and social security discovered the auditors from the Office for prosecution of financial crimes for the consortium "Moreas AE", which was commissioned to build part of the motorway on the Peloponnesian Peninsula, and in particular the road Corinth - Tripoli - Kalamata.

Three teams of financial auditors conducted unannounced inspections of the trucks, as well as of the machinery equipment working on site. The inspections were prompted by an anonymous complaint that some trucks and diggers are involved illegally in the construction works on the highway.

The teams of the Office for prosecution of financial crimes checked the fuel tanks of the specific machinery. In at least eight of them auditors found heating oil.

It is estimated that fraud has saved the owners of the machinery huge amounts of money. According to the Ministry of finance the average price of gasoline for March is 1.30 euros per liter while the price of heating oils is 0.80 cents. This means that for any filling of the tank of the trucks and machines with heating oil scammers have earned 0.46 cents per liter. Respectively the losses for the treasury are also great due to the difference in the price of gasoline and diesel.

The Secretary General of the Office for prosecution of financial crimes Yannis Kapeleris said that "the fraud may be greater than it seems at first sight" and added that the trucks and the equipment in whose reservoirs was discovered the oil are owned by subcontractor firms that partciipate in the construction consortium "Moreas AE".

Which are these companies? The consortium was established on 22 December 2006 from the companies Aktor participating with a share of 86.67 percent and Intracom with 13.33 per cent share. The concession contract under which the Ministry of Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works has provided the project "Design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the road Corinth-Tripoli-Kalamata and of the section Klados Sparta" was signed on January 31, 2007. The contract has a validity period of 30 years.

In response to the publications in the Greek press the consortium issued a message that states that during the inspection of teams from the Office for prosecution of financial crimes were not revealed any violations neither related to the legality of the machinery of "Moreas AE" nor ones related to the fuel being used.

It does not, however, say the same about the machinery of Aktor and Intracom.

"At the site also work trucks and equipment of the subcontractor companies which have signed all the contracts that the law requires. According to primary information, it appears that the teams of the Office for prosecution of financial crimes have found violations in four trucks that are used under contract with the subcontractor companies. Therefore the consortium "Moreas AE" has no responsibility".

"Aktor" is Greece's largest construction company with 45% market share. It has built 70% of the main road network of Greece, tunnels, bridges, hydropower plants, dams, ports, stadiums and other Olympic sites in Athens. The company has agreed concession projects for 3.5 billion euros, 31% of them are carried out abroad, mainly in the Persian Gulf and in Southeast Europe. In Bulgaria it has completed the reconstruction of the Plovdiv Opera and has built two factories for desulphatization of diesel and gasoline in Lukoil Neftochim Burgas. Last year, it won the tender for Lot 3 of the Trakia motorway.