Μake us preferred on Google Fresh questions are emerging over the discovery that five tax officials whose names appeared in handwritten notes found at the offices of the criminal network operating through the “To Horiatiko” bakery chain were active trade unionists and candidates for the New Democracy-affiliated union faction (DAKE) in tax authority elections, according to ballots from 2021, as revealed by tanea.gr.
The central question is why union representatives — who are aligned with the governing party — appear to have had the reported contacts with accountants, including those linked to the specific network accused of tax and social security contribution evasion totaling more than 100 million euros. Their primary responsibility, meanwhile, should have been to protect the interests of their fellow employees.
The questions are compounded by the fact that no candidates from other trade union factions appear on the list of public employees found in the network’s possession. Further questions arise from the discovery that the unionists in question held significant positions, including roles in central audits of major businesses as well as posts in regional tax offices.
The Greek FBI’s investigation into the bakery chain case identified 430 shell companies and resulted in a case file against 149 individuals, with 59 arrests. A total of 130 bank accounts were frozen.
At an accounting office which investigators believe played an organizational role in the network, authorities discovered a handwritten list containing 25 names of employees of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), Greece’s tax administration. Beside some of the names were monetary amounts reaching as high as 60,000 euros. Two of the individuals named have since retired.
The list, titled “Transactions following orders from AG (the head of the network),” reportedly includes individuals serving in tax offices in the Attica region, Mykonos, Glyfada and Lamia. At one point, it also refers to a tax office designated for “High Wealth.”
The list also includes eight employees from three Audit Centers, as well as five employees of the Services for Investigations & Safeguarding of Public Revenue (YEDDE). Amounts of 8,000 and 50,000 euros are recorded next to two of their names.
YEDDE is a specialized AADE audit service whose main responsibilities include identifying businesses that conceal revenue or fail to remit taxes, investigating fake invoices and fictitious transactions, uncovering VAT fraud networks, and conducting preventive and partial tax audits. However, the service was notably not activated in the extensive tax evasion involving To Horiatiko.
Even greater questions, however, are raised by the presence on the list of all five unionists affiliated with New Democracy’s trade union faction in Attica.
The main issue is why their names appeared in these notes and whether some of them may have acted as intermediaries, facilitating communication between members of the network and tax officials they knew through their professional activities. Questions have also been raised about their connections with government and senior administrative officials.
It is worth noting that 84 candidates ran for DAKE in the trade union elections, while the total number of AADE employees is estimated at approximately 12,000. This means the discovery of the names on the suspicious list cannot be dismissed as coincidental and is expected to receive the attention of the investigation requested by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance.
