Millions from illicit gains in state coffers

The Finance ministry will introduce a bill, in the next few days, which will allow embezzlers lower prison terms if they return their illicitly gained money., and now it has a clear picture of the amounts that will reach state coffers.

The Finance ministry has released a document in the Greek parliament, about the exact sum of embezzled money returned to the state which will be used for high priority public fundings. According to it, an account number for deposits to the Greek state has been active since December 17, 2013. Deputy Finance minister Christos Staikouras informed the parliament that the contents of the account appears in the State Budget as “unforeseen revenue”.

What's interesting about this account, is the exact amount of money it made in the past two economic years. In only the last week of 2013, the account contained the sum of 7.463 million euros, while in the first two weeks of 2014, it gathered 9.929 million. The money comes from people already awaiting trial for corruption

Two opposition MPs, Asimina Xirotiri and Nikos Tsoukalis, from the Democratic Left (DIMAR) party inquired as to the transparency of the account and the government intentions concerning the use of the amounts via public financing. Typical of the mistrust in the executive, they fear the account will be used to contain illicit gains returned by public figures being called upon to account for their misdeeds.