Mykonos Mayor Thanasis Kousathanas-Mega, former mayor Christos Veronis, two deputy mayors and six employees at the municipality’s financial department will be charged with fraud in a case in which authorities said they issued fake documents to cover up a scheme to steal six million euros ($7.76 million) in tax revenues.
Officials said that the suspects were caught in extensive fraud on one of Greece’s most popular islands. The Mykonos officials, and 11 hotel owners facing misdemeanor charges in the same case, were alleged to have set up a scheme to pocket transient occupancy taxes to profit themselves and evade taxes and will also face charges of breaching the public faith.
Kousathanas-Megas, Veronis and the two deputy mayors were released by a magistrate, pending trial after posting bail payments ranging from 50,000 to 150,000 euros ($64,670-$194,000.) Two of the employees were remanded in custody after testifying and the other two were released while two more workers are also being probed in connection with what appears to be the large-scale embezzlement of municipal funding, officials said.
Investigating magistrate Maria Archontaki heard the testimony of all the suspects this week, nearly three years after the case first came to light when a complaint was lodged by a local hotelier who claimed to have been asked to pay again for a municipal levy he had already paid. The magistrate is expected to summon the managers of two bank branches on the island for questioning in connection with the same case over the coming days.
Earlier this year police had to be called in to stop protesters from releasing a restaurant owner on the island of Hydra who had been accused of tax evasion. Tax inspectors earlier said that tax cheating rates on some Greek islands reach 100 percent as no businesses pay them. Mykonos is one of the most well-known Greek islands in the world and a popular spot for party-goers. It has many nightclubs and taverns that especially cater to the young.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
