In Brief
INSPECTORS JAILED
Tax officials guilty of taking part in lucrative VAT returns scam Four inspectors from Thessaloniki’s tax office yesterday received jail sentences ranging from seven to 15 years after being found guilty of corruption. The tax officials were the latest to be jailed for being involved in helping businesses to obtain a combined total of 60 million euros in VAT returns by issuing fake invoices indicating they had exported products. So far, 12 inspectors have been convicted, five of whom are serving time in jail. Ten businessmen have also been sentenced. PUBLIC TRANSPORT Morning stoppage on May Day There will be no metro, tram, bus, trolley bus or electric railway services between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. tomorrow due to a work stoppage being staged by public transport employees to mark May Day. There will be no trains running on the Hellenic Railways Organization network as employees will be staging a 24-hour strike. Erdogan visit Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Greece for 24 hours on May 14, it emerged yesterday, but he will not visit the Muslim community in Thrace. Erdogan is due to arrive on Friday afternoon for top-level diplomatic talks and will leave on May 15, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday. Grigoropoulos trial A court in Amfissa hearing the trial of two policemen implicated in the fatal shooting of teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos in December 2008 is unlikely to reach a verdict by June 6, by which date the officers will be eligible for release, as they will have reached the 18-month limit on being held in custody. Sources said that the court still has to hear from 15 witnesses, including forensic experts. Match fixing Supreme Court deputy prosecutor Anastasios Kanellopoulos has ordered preliminary investigations into suggestions that 27 Greek soccer games were fixed. The games, involving five Super League clubs and teams from the second division, have been placed on a black list by the sport’s European governing body, UEFA. Exarchia attack Vandals broke into the political office of Deputy Environment Minister Thanos Moraitis in Exarchia, central Athens, yesterday. The five assailants wore hoods and used hammers to cause extensive damage. The deputy minister was not in the office at the time of the attack. Patmos abuse? Police confirmed yesterday that they are investigating allegations police officers on the island of Patmos abused several high school students who were taken in for questioning in connection to a vandalized motorcycle. The force denied claims by the boys’ lawyer that the allegations had been ignored.
