Four tax officers and one private accountant have been arrested on the island of Corfu on Friday. They had formed a corruption ring and were extorting taxpayers. Among those arrested is the deputy director of the Corfu tax office
Greek police arrested the five gang members in raids in collaboration with the Independent Authority for Public Revenues (AADE), following a complaint by one of the victims.
Sources in Greek police told media that tax office employees had used the accountant to approach tax-payers who either owed large amounts of tax or who were due to have large sums returned to them. The gang was demanding significant sums of money from their victims in order to provide with services and a series of facilitation.
The suspects are accused of targeting taxpayers, mainly business owners with unpaid tax debts, and using their criminal network to extort payments from them. The accountant, allegedly a key player in the scheme, is believed to have approached the victims to initiate the extortion.
According to media, mastermind of the extortion was the deputy director and the gang was in operation for at least four months.
The arrested accountant was reportedly the one who would identify mostly owners of catering services (restaurants, cafes, bars etc) with open cases at the tax office and then the ring blackmailed them by asking them money. The members of the ring allegedly blackmailed their victims that they would need to pay them a sum of money in order for tax auditors to turn a blind eye and not proceed with audits. At the same time, the perpetrators allegedly told some of their victims that if they wanted a tax refund earlier, they would also have to pay them to facilitate the procedure.
Authorities have so far connected the suspects to at least ten extortion cases. Recorded conversations, now part of the evidence, have revealed critical details about the network’s operations.
The suspects under arrest will appear before a prosecutor.
According to latest information by local media, one more accountant is involved in the case.
The gang was dismantled just months after a similar corruption and extortion scandal was exposed at the tax office of Halkida on the island of Evia in May 2024.