Specifically, the following announcement was issued by the Press Offices of the Ministries of Finance and Labor and Social Affairs:
“The Ministries of Finance and Labor and Social Affairs, having collected audit evidence, in which the competent mechanisms identified possible phenomena of circumvention of measures taken to deal with the financial effects of the pandemic, they proceeded with the necessary initiatives, so that these cases were investigated by the Justice and the competent audit services.The cases concern, mainly, the financial tool of the Refundable Advance and the measure of suspensions of employment contracts.
In particular, the Ministry of Finance requested yesterday, in writing, the Economic Crime Department of the Athens Appeals Prosecutor’s Office and the Operational Directorate of the Economic Crime Prosecution Corps ( SDOE) of Attica, to examine information from the Independent Public Revenue Authority (AADE), in order to take legal action and to reveal any phenomena of circumvention and illegal acts, even corruption and fraud, related to the improper application of the provisions on granting national and EU subsidies and grants through the financial tools and mechanisms activated during the coronavirus pandemic, and which were paid through the General Directorate of Financial Services of the Ministry of Finance.
The following cases are indicative:
- One-person IKE in the Peloponnese, active in the retail trade of meat, had declared a total turnover of 3,000 euros for 2019. Before the start of the 5th cycle of the Refundable Advance, submitted amending statements for the last three quarters of 2019, with a total turnover of 1.9 million euros.
- EPE in Attica, active in the wholesale trade of office equipment, had submitted zero VAT returns in 2019 and 2020. Before the start of the 5th cycle of the Refundable Advance, it submitted amending returns for the four quarters of 2019, with a total turnover of 1.5 million euros.
- A hotel in Thessaly had submitted zero VAT returns in 2019 and 2020. Before the start of the 5th cycle of the Refundable Advance, submitted amending statements for 2019 and 2020, with a turnover of 3 million euros and 1 million euros, respectively.
- Individual IKE in Attica, active in the production of plants, had declared a total turnover of 7,000 euros for 2019 and 2020. It submitted amending declarations for 2019, with a turnover of approximately 2 million euros.
Regarding the measures of competence of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the controls of the Labor Inspection Body (SEPE) throughout Greece – in cooperation with the services of the SDOE – for the correct implementation of the legislative framework for the suspensions of employment contracts highlighted cases of circumvention of this framework by “astute” employers.
The example of a cafe in Thessaly, which was housed in a 25 sq.m. building, is typical. m., where, during the SEPE echelon check, a total of 150 workers were registered! Of these, 129 were employed on a part-time contract – for an average of 4 hours of work per month (!) – and most were employed from November 2020 onwards, when the second lockdown began. The contracts of all 150 employees were suspended, as a result of which they became beneficiaries of special purpose compensation amounting to 534 euros.
As these figures refer to virtual recruitments, relevant file to be sent to the Prosecutor and to file an indictment. Echelons of SEPE are currently checking other businesses that present similar – unjustified – flows of salaried employment, which raise suspicions of circumvention of the existing legislative framework. Alongside the physical checks by the SEPE, digital checks are also carried out of the data submitted by the companies to PS ERGANI, in order to identify other practices that may conceal abusive behavior, such as e.g. the hiring of an unusually large number of employees in closed or affected businesses in the midst of lockdown.
The Ministers of Finance and Labor and Social Affairs ordered that controls be further intensified and that the competent audit authorities cooperate services for the rapid completion of files. Messrs. Christos Staikouras and Kostis Hatzidakis assure that in all suspicious cases, the data will be gathered and forwarded immediately to the competent prosecutorial authorities and the appropriate actions will follow. At the same time, in order to avoid similar phenomena in the future, the two Ministries are launching changes in the existing legislative framework of certain support measures. The first significant changes are as follows:
- In the 7th cycle of the Refundable Advance, 2020 amending returns submitted after in January 2021, while there will also be special sanctions in case of suspected circumvention of the provisions. employees who are employed at least 4 hours a day. Finally, it is underlined that the scope of the relevant regulation will cover those who have been hired until January 31, 2021. offenders, is the protection in general of the financial interests of the Greek State and the European Union, as well as the economy and the social whole of the country.”
