Finally Greek Foreign Ministry started to collect back funds given to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for aid projects that were never materialized.
In a control project that started in January 2015 and investigated the time period from the year 2000 until 2010, the General Directorate of International Development Cooperation (Hellenic Aid) of the Foreign Ministry managed to go deep into the practices of financing NGO-projects and state funds amounting tens of millions of euro.
With 202,000 euro began the “harvest” of the proceeds from Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) were funded by the State Department for programs not implemented.
Dozens of NGO projects have been referred by the Foreign Ministry/Hellenic Aid to the office of corruption prosecutor and the prosecutor of the Athens First Instance Court.
According to Hellenic Aid website, the total amount to be returned to the state is €7,774,244.
The first €202,000 that have been collected via Guarantee Letters by the Attica Bank refer to two projects of an NGO that was funded in 2008 for the “development of entrepreneurship and sustainable development in Egypt “and the “development of Serbian entrepreneurship (SME enterprises and mass media). The projects were never materialized.
The control project has not concluded yet. Investigated are more than 170 NGOs.
PS The issue of NGOs funding has less to do with the tax authorities frenzy to collect money that belongs to Caesar — sorry! “to the state” I wanted to write- but with the great scandal of state funding to anyone who had thought he can milk state funds through the establishing of an NGO and support Foreign Aid projects around the world. Controls and follow ups never took place. Until Nikos Kotzias assumed the office of Foreign Minister.
