Millions go missing at Attica authorities
Just days after it was revealed that probes into corruption in public administration were on the rise, the country’s top civil service inspector said that some 60 million euros was missing from the coffers of two Attica municipalities last year. The local authorities concerned were the municipalities of Ano Liosia and Fyli, the head of the Public Administration Inspectors’ Agency, Leandros Rakintzis, said. Inspectors from the independent agency found 53.7 million euros and 5.5 million euros, respectively, missing from the municipalities’ deposits and loans funds. A prosecutor has ordered an investigation into their accounts, based on the findings produced by the investigators. Rakintzis added that the mayor of Ano Liosia, in western Athens, was responsible for withdrawing 9 million euros of the municipalities funds, which are so far unaccounted for. Local authorities from the area are currently locked in a dispute with the government and the Athens Water Supply and Sewage Company (EYDAP) over plans to dump hundreds of tons of treated sewage each day at the capital’s main landfill in Ano Liosia. On Monday, inspectors said that the number of investigations into corruption had doubled in 2004 compared to 2003.
