- James Angelos' book looks at widespread tax evasion and benefit fraud
- Includes case of the island where 498 people pretended to be blind
- Also reveals how super-rich bought camoflage for pools to avoid tax
- Greece is on the brink of collapse as it decides whether to reject EU bailout
Greece
in teetering on the brink of ruin - and it is hard not to feel sympathy
for the pensioners crying in the street and the mothers facing empty
supermarket shelves.
Yet
those reading a new book may find themselves feeling a little less
compassionate towards the Greeks. It reveals an eye-popping catalogue of
benefits scams and tax avoidance schemes that have robbed the public
purse.
James Angelos' The Full Catastrophe: Travels among the New Greek Ruins lays
bare the corruption which filtered through all levels of society - from
the islanders who pretended to be blind, to the families who forgot to
register their parents' death and the doctors who 'earn' just €12,000 a
year - yet live in Athens' most exclusive neighbourhood.
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Distress: An elderly man cries outside
a bank in northern Greece this morning, after queuing to take out his
pension this morning - which has been reduced to 120 euros this week.
Some claim Greece is going to run out of cash within days if it does not
accept the bailout offered to the country
Fiddlng the system: But a new book has
lifted the lid on widespread benefits fraud, and tax avoidance - both
of which contributed to a budget deficit which runs into billions of
euros. Pictured: Pensioner at a bank
It was the rumours of an 'island of the blind' which first bought Angelos, a journalist, to Greece in 2011.
He had heard that on Zakynthos, something like two per cent of the population were registered blind.
All
was not quite how it seemed, however, and it transpired that 61 of the
680 'blind' residents were quite happily driving around the island.
In fact, an astonishing 498 of those 680 were not blind at all - or even partially sighted.
But
being 'blind' had its advantages - in particular, the €724 paid in
benefits once every two months, and a reduction in utility bills.
It
was a scam which could be traced back to one ophthalmologist and one
official, which was estimated to have cost the country €9 million.
And, as Angelos discovered, it was only the tip of the iceberg.
How big is the problem of disability benefits fraud, Angelos asked the then-deputy health minister Markos Bolaris.
'Very big,' came the accurate, but short, reply.
Indeed,
when those claiming disabilities were asked to present themselves at
government offices so records could be updated, 36,000 failed to do so.
That translated to an immediate saving for the government of €100m a year.
Fraud: One of the most famous examples
is that of Zakynthos, the holiday island (pictured) where almost 500
people pretended to be blind in order to get benefits and discounts
Widespread: When the Greek government
took a closer look at those who were claiming disability benefit, they
realised as many as 36,000 were claiming the handout, despite not being
entitled
But the fraud was certainly not confined to just disability benefits.
When
the government chose to take a closer look at who they were paying
pensions to, they found a slightly suspicious 8,500 pensioners had
surpassed the milestone age of 100.
An
even closer look revealed, 40,000 pension claims were fraudulent. It
seems people were forgetting to register their loved ones' deaths.
It's not that these scams were not known about before, of course.
A
Daily Mail investigation in 2011 revealed the subway system was
essentially free for the five million residents of Athens - because,
with no barriers, it relied on an honesty system which few were honest
enough to use.
It
described street after street of opulent mansions and villas,
surrounded by high walls and with their own pools, which, on paper, were
the homes of virtual paupers.
They
were all allowed to declare their own income for tax purposes - and
officially, they were only earning €12,000 - or a paltry £8,500 - a
year, below the tax threshold.
Apparently,
only 5,000 people admitted to earning more than £90,000 a year -
prompting one economist to describe Greece as a ‘poor country full of
rich people’.
The
lengths these doctors, lawyers and businessmen would go to to hide
their wealth from the government was, it has to be said, impressive.
According
to official records, just over 300 homes in Athens' most exclusive
neighbourhood had swimming pools, and had paid the resulting tax for
such a luxury.
Tax evasion: But it is not just people
claiming benefits when they shouldn't. Some of the richest people in
the country go out of their way to avoid paying tax - claiming they only
earn £8,500 a year
Desperate: Indeed, they even bought tarpaulin to hide their swimming pools from tax inspectors
But when the government decided to have a look on Google Earth, it became clear these residents hadn't been totally honest.
The real figure for swimming pools in the area is believed to be closer to 20,000.
But
instead of coming clean, there was a boom in sales of camouflage
tarpaulins to conceal their existence from the tax inspectors flying
over the gardens.
And then there are the tales which seem to be more down to incompetence, rather than actual fraud.
In
particular, there is the tale of treasury employee Savvas Saltouridis,
who used an Uzi submachine gun to murder the mayor of his Greek mountain
town in 2009, who remained on the municipal payroll for years
afterwards - even though he was languishing in jail.
He was taking advantage of the complex disciplinary system
Angelos, then working for the Wall Street Journal,
was told by retired clerk Apostolos Tsiakiris, who took over as mayor
after the killing: 'You can't be a murderer and keep getting paid.
'That doesn't happen in any other government.'
But
what do when so many are cheating the system? It is estimated tax
evasion alone might be costing the country as much as €20billion a year
in lost revenue, while years of benefit fraud will certainly have added
up.
But
when Angelos suggested punishing those who tried to play the system, he
was given a straight forward - if depressing - answer.
'If you start putting people in jail, maybe you'll have to put half of Greece in jail,' an official said.
- James Angelos' The Full Catastrophe: Travels among the New Greek Ruins is available to buy on Amazon.
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