Corruption charges land on register
The government’s faltering attempts to compile Greece’s first-ever land register ran into further trouble yesterday, as it emerged that criminal charges for corruption have been tabled against top officials in the state agency handling the multi-billion-drachma project. A number of the contractors were also charged with fraud. Furthermore, most of the companies involved in the project went on strike yesterday, complaining that they have not been paid. On Friday Athens prosecutor Giorgos Gerakis filed criminal charges for corruption against seven board members of Ktimatologio SA, which is supervised by the Ministry of Town Planning, the Environment and Public Works. Chairman Ioannis Badekas, Managing Director Nikolaos Galidakis, Vice-Chairman Raphael Moyses and board members Ioannis Regas, Stergios Vergos, Constantinos Choromidis and Dimitris Makartitis were indicted on multiple counts of dereliction of duty which resulted in losses of over 50 million drachmas for the state coffers. In addition, the boards of contractors Geo Synergy and Eurodynamiki were indicted for multiple counts of fraud. The European Union-funded land register has already far exceeded its original budget, causing deep concern in Brussels which is to decide this month whether to cut funding for the project.
