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Audit in Disease Control Center finds 90-million euro black hole

Audit in the Greek Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KEELPNO) has revealed a black hole of 90 million euros for the years 2007-2014.

In a written statement the chairman of the Parliament Commission investigating scandals in the health sector, Antonis Balomenakis, said among others that independent auditors found “significant divergences” and “large discrepancies” in the cash registers, bank accounts and remaining cash reserves of KEELPNO.

For the years 2008-2013, the discrepancy is to the actual cash holdings is € 89,229,474,” Balomenakis said in his report. There have been no adequate documents, invoices etc for the expenditure, the reports notes.

The report that refers times when conservative New Democracy and socialist PASOK were in power sparked a new round of debate between the government and the opposition.

“It is an accounting difference of 44 million euros for the financial year 2009-2010,” New Democracy vice chairman and former Health Minister, Adonis Georgiadis adding he was not Health Ministry at the time but Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou from PASOK.

Georgiadis did not bother to explain how can a “accounting difference of whole 44 million euros” occur and claimed the money was not missing.

This accounting margin is declining in the coming years and amounts to 3 million euros in 2014, during his and another’s ND Health Minister’s mandate, Georgiadis said.

At the same time and loyal to ND tactics, he drew attention to the new issue the Greek government has been object to severe criticism, to the Athens wildfires where 93 people lost their lives. 

“If they [the government] think they can change the agenda and escape from their huge responsibilities about the tragedy in Mati, they are fooling themselves.”

The Prime Minister’s office commented on the auditors’ report saying “It is now obvious that some people have political and criminal responsibilities and need to explain themselves to the Greek people and to justice.”

90 million euros have disappeared, the statement said.

SYRIZA took KEELPNO under the magnifying glass soon after it came to power, the debate between alternate health minister Pavlos Polakis and former health ministers have been heated. Both sides throw numbers and ‘millions of euros’ in the air, and no Greek can make a clue about how much money really has been misused by the previous KEELPNO leadership.

Last March, Polakis had testified that it was 230 million euros missing from the KEELPNO.

So for now we stick to 90 million euros.

PS Political debates in Greece are often at the level of a kindergarten class or of a coffee house where old men just throw a word in the round just for the sake of the debate.

No to mention that many mainstream media published just Georgiadis’ statement but not Balomenakis’ report.

Sometimes, I envy people who cannot speak Greek. They don’t know how lucky they are.

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