Deputy Health Minister, Pavlos Polakis, urged the public prosecutor to intervene after he revealed that an audit conducted for the time period 2007-2014 showed that 230 million euros have been missing from the cash registers of KEELPNO, the Center for Disease Protection and Prevention.
In his testimony at the Parliamentary committee investigating scandals in the Greek Health sector, Polakis said among others that:
- between 2007-2014, the cash inflow to KEEPLNO was €750,304,452.
- respectively, the recorded payments were €522,297,387.
- audit in 2014 showed that the cash balance was € 3,173,703
“Where did the 230million euros go? They are not being recorded anywhere. Where is the rest of the money?” Polakis said “In my opinion all this mean a public prosecutor should intervene tomorrow morning.”
The deputy health minister said further that audit of KEELPNO stopped in 2011. He described the years 2012, 2013, and 2014 as “black holes” saying that the economic data of the public organization were available only in excel.
He pointed out that the KEEPLNO had “more than 30 bank accounts, which is not usual for such an organization.
The Center was the “offshore of the Health Ministry,” Polakis claimed and accused the former head of KEELPNO (who is awaiting trial for alleged embezzlement of half a million euro) of making all the money withdrawals with an authorized document. The purpose was to have the flow of dark money disappear, Polakis claimed.
He also revealed that from a 200,000-euro loan for vaccines only 50,000 were used for the prpose the loan was taken and the rest 150,000 were used for sponsorship, organization of conferences, events etc.
He pointed out at the nepotism inside the KEELPNO and recalled that at the Center’s restaurant a meal with lentils was offered for 12.50 euros!
The first scandal that broke out around KEELPNO was the organization expenditure for commercials and advertisement in media and websites. In the year 2014 alone, a total of €4,274,150 was spend for the promotion of social messages that ought to be free of charge.
One website with low number of visitors is said to have received €16,000 +Value Added Tax in order to post the organization logo for one month.
with info from documentonews, politisonline, tovima and others
Will we ever see the end of money-for-the-boys (and girls)??