NEWS

Only 2 officials hunt dirty cash

Greece has been tackling money laundering for the last 10 years using two men and a borrowed computer, the head of the body responsible for tracking dirty cash told MPs yesterday as they debated a draft law aimed at boosting the powers of investigating authorities. Speaking to a parliamentary committee, Giorgos Pantelis said that, since it was formed in 1995 under the auspices of the Economy and Finance Ministry, the team which investigates money laundering has been short of resources. Pantelis told deputies that the body had only two employees to deal with some 1,000 suspected cases of money laundering each year. In order to have access to the Internet, one of the men had to bring his laptop computer from home, he added. The parliamentary committee is poring over the draft law, which aims to update legislation on money laundering. The government unveiled the bill last month, just a week after the EU said it will take Greece to the European Court of Justice over its failure to fight money laundering.

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