In Brief
IKA DISCIPLINE
Fund fires six doctors, suspends seven over alleged wheelchair scam The country’s largest social security fund, IKA, said yesterday that it was suspending seven doctors and terminating the contracts of another six after an internal investigation into the alleged issuing of wheelchairs to non-existent patients, which is thought to have cost the fund up to 3.3 million euros. The doctors, mainly orthopedists, all worked for IKA in Patras and the alleged incidents took place between 1999 and 2003. The matter is also being investigated by judicial authorities. FAKE PAPERS List of journalists ‘paid’ by Foreign Ministry deemed to be a forgery A list containing the names of journalists who were allegedly receiving illicit payments from the Foreign Ministry was forged, according to Prosecutor Panayiotis Poulios, who issued charges of breach of state secrets and forgery with the aim of harming a third party against the unidentified people involved. The list was found in a trash can behind the ministry earlier this year but the Foreign Ministry has always dismissed it as a fake. Poulios will now question all the people who may have had access to sensitive information. The charges carry jail sentences of 5-10 years. STATHIS DEFIANT Ex-judge insists deposits were loans Former judge Leonidas Stathis said again yesterday that he did not take bribes as his trial continued yesterday at a criminal appeals court in Athens. Ten lawyers who allegedly bribed him to rule in their favor are also on trial. Stathis allegedly accepted bribes totaling 54 million drachmas (158,500 euros) from 10 lawyers so that his rulings would favor their clients. Stathis said yesterday that the funds were loans, not bribes, and that some defendants in whose favor he had ruled had simply deposited money in his account to thank him for his decisions. Stathis said that his only mistake was that he gave out the details of his bank account to the lawyers. KTEL crash A woman was killed and a man was injured yesterday when a KTEL inter-city bus slammed into the back of the car in which they were traveling on the Athens-Corinth national road, authorities said. None of the bus passengers were injured in the crash. Police said that it was not immediately clear what had caused the accident, which occurred at 6.15 p.m. after the two vehicles had passed through the Elefsina toll post headed toward Corinth. Bank heists A bank teller was injured in Palaio Faliron, southern Athens, yesterday during a hold-up of a branch of ATEbank, according to police. The teller was shot in the leg by one of the two armed men that held up the bank shortly before 2.00 p.m. The robbers made off with an estimated 30,000 euros. Separately, two men held up a branch of Eurobank on Alexandras Avenue in central Athens and made away with an unknown amount of cash on foot. Fatal accident A 45-year-old man was killed late on Thursday in Anoixi, northern Attica, when a soccer goal post fell on him as he was trying to exercise on the horizontal bar. Police said the incident took place at about 10 p.m. and have launched an investigation into the causes of the accident. Foreign students Foreign nationals interested in applying for a place at a Greek university can submit an application form at the Education Ministry from Tuesday through to August 10, officials said yesterday. Drug arrests Two Albanian men, aged 39 and 41, were arrested in Athens yesterday along with a 59-year-old Bulgarian woman, accused of smuggling heroin and cocaine into Greece. Police found in their possession 5.3 kilos of heroin, 3.2 kilos of cocaine and 14,230 euros in cash. Ouzo recognition Canada said yesterday that it will recognize ouzo as an exclusively Greek product after making a bilateral agreement with the European Union on the issue. Canada will only recognize drinks as ouzo if made in Greece.
