With tax inspectors and investigators from the Greek financial crimes squad SDOE stepping up checks of businesses that don’t issue receipts or pay taxes, a crowd of some 200 people at a religious celebration in the village of Archanes of Heraklion on Crete assaulted government agents, it was reported.
The agents were caught up in the crowd which became aroused after it determined who they were and became agitated. The news site. An eyewitness told NewsIt that many in the crowd, including shop customers, assaulted the auditors and forced them to leave.
The SDOE team turned up at the village of Archanon in Iraklio as locals were celebrating their patron saint with a church fete.
According to reports, local residents took offense that the tax inspectors chose that day to conduct raids on businesses for tax code violations with a large group at a taverna instigating the assault, heckling the officers and threatening them with violence if they didn’t leave the village.
Following the incident, the Finance Ministry issued orders for the taverna to be shut down for one month and for a complete audit to be conducted of its finances.
Cretans are especially notorious for ignoring the law and assaulting government agents, including firing at police. A similar incident involving an attack on agents occurred last summer on the island of Hydra. In that case, the owner of a restaurant was arrested, setting residents to attack tax inspectors and requiring the intervention of the riot police.
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