GNTO staff held in fraud probe
Three of the five suspects arrested earlier this week for allegedly trying to defraud the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) were on Saturday remanded in custody after appearing before a magistrate on charges of forming a criminal gang, attempted fraud, forgery and embezzlement.
Among those remanded was the suspected gang leader, Costas Vasilakos, aged 39, who had been adviser to the GNTO’s former general secretary Nikos Karahalios. Two of the five suspects were granted conditional release.
The gang is believed to be linked to a suspected 12-million-euro shortfall in the GNTO’s accounts, a discrepancy currently being probed by inspectors from the General State Accounting Office.
