The criminal court of Thessaloniki, Greece, has sentenced a huge number of excise officers to life in prison for being involved in cases of illegal VAT refunds.
According to lawyers, this was the first time that a criminal court in Thessaloniki has handed down a life sentence to tax officials associated with this scandal, which came to light about fifteen years ago. The case is known to have cost the Greek public sector tens of millions of euros.
The three-member court of appeal imposed life imprisonment on three excise officers, as well as on a supposed clothing manufacturer who was seemingly exporting his products, and thus illegally claiming the VAT refund.
This case-file was one of dozens related to the same scandal, and the damage it, alone, caused to the Greek public sector is estimated at about one million euros.
For the same case, the court sentenced three other excise officers to imprisonment from four to ten years.
More than ten Greek tax officials have been tried and found guilty for this scandal, most of whom were imprisoned, and several other connected cases are pending in Greece’s criminal courts.
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