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Monday’s proceedings before the investigating judge, which have been underway since yesterday, continued today with the testimonies of the owner of Pizza Fan and then of the man considered “number 2” in what the case file describes as a criminal organization. In his testimony, the company’s owner reportedly said he knew that some stores used the hidden “treat” function in the illegal software of their cash register systems, since, according to the defendant, revenues could be monitored through the shared order center.

The main defendant reportedly attributed this choice to the store managers, saying that the percentage the company received depended on the amounts each store declared. In his own testimony, the alleged “deputy” appears to have taken a different position from the owner. According to information, referring to the “treat,” the defendant said he was against this practice and had made that clear. “I had a picture of how the ‘treat’ process worked, I was against it and I had said so,” he reportedly told the judge.

According to the company’s owner, the case concerns tax offenses and has nothing to do with a criminal organization. He reportedly described that charge as “unfair to a group of people who have built a successful business that employs more than 2,500 people, pays 36 million in salaries every year and 15 million in VAT and taxes, while tens of millions go to suppliers.”

The main defendant in the case appears to have said that he has consented to the seized and frozen funds being handed over to immediately cover the state’s tax claims, “without even waiting for a final court decision.” In a statement, Nikolas Aletras, the lawyer for the owner’s close associate, stressed that his client knew the software and the process described as the “treat” existed, but noted that he had neither access to it nor any responsibility for how the system operated.

The testimonies in the Pizza Fan case began yesterday, when the first 10 defendants appeared. They were released with, depending on the case, the condition of reporting regularly to a police station and bail of 5,000 euros. The remaining 13 defendants were brought before the investigating judge this morning.