Jail for official who took 1,000-euro bribe
An employee of the Organization of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Handicrafts (EOMMEH) was given a 30-month jail sentence in Thessaloniki yesterday for accepting a 1,000-euro bribe so he would approve a businessman’s application for state funding. The unnamed official was arrested on Friday after the businessman reported him to authorities. The entrepreneur claimed that the EOMMEH official had asked for a total of 5,000 euros to help process the businessman’s application for a 30,000-euro grant. The accused denied the allegations and said that he had been given the 1,000 euros in cash in a file that he thought contained paperwork that had to do with the application. However, the court ruled against him and ordered the official to be jailed for two-and-a-half years. He has appealed the decision and has been released pending his hearing.
