Greece the most corrupt EU country

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  • TrueMacedonian
    Senior Member
    • Jan 2009
    • 3810

    Greece the most corrupt EU country

    5 December 2012 Last updated at 05:28 ET

    Greece 'most corrupt' EU country, new survey reveals

    Greece is perceived to have the most corrupt public sector of all 27 EU countries, a new global survey reveals.

    Worldwide, Denmark, Finland and New Zealand were seen as the least corrupt nations, while Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia were perceived to be the most corrupt.

    Transparency International's 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index gathered views on 176 countries worldwide.

    Two-thirds scored below 50, with zero highly corrupt and 100 very clean.

    The UK ranked 17th in the world, with a score of 74.

    Greece's global ranking fell from 80th in 2011 to 94th in 2012, reflecting the country's continuing economic turmoil and widespread tax evasion.

    Italy was ranked 72nd, below EU-newcomer Romania at 66 in the index.

    "Governments need to integrate anti-corruption actions into all public decision-making", said Huguette Labelle, chair of Transparency International (TI), a body set up in 1993 to expose and tackle countrywide corruption.

    "Priorities include better rules on lobbying and political financing, making public spending and contracting more transparent and making public bodies more accountable to people."

    TI believes there are strong correlations between poverty, conflict and perceived levels of corruption.
    Slayer Of The Modern "greek" Myth!!!
  • TrueMacedonian
    Senior Member
    • Jan 2009
    • 3810

    #2
    When you think you have read it all modern greece always seems to come through with more comedic material for our amusement
    Slayer Of The Modern "greek" Myth!!!

    Comment

    • TrueMacedonian
      Senior Member
      • Jan 2009
      • 3810

      #3
      On the afternoon of Dec. 21, a woman attempted to cash a check for €147,600 ($195,363) at a Greek bank. It could have been a very merry Christmas, but instead she and four others were arrested and implicated ...


      Greece living up to most corrupt EU country rating
      By Stephanie Gruner Buckley Thu, Jan 3, 2013 5:27 AM EST

      On the afternoon of Dec. 21, a woman attempted to cash a check for €147,600 ($195,363) at a Greek bank. It could have been a very merry Christmas, but instead she and four others were arrested and implicated in a multi-million euro embezzlement scheme involving the Greek national tourism agency, reports the Wall Street Journal (paywall).

      And so the latest Greek scandal starts to unfold. A probe into possible corruption at the national tourist organization (responsible for Greece’s lucrative tourism industry, representing about a sixth of the nation’s GDP (paywall)), is underway to account for €12 million missing due to “irregularities” going back a decade. Accountants are poring over the agency’s books after its general secretary, Panos Livadas, admitted there were gaps.

      European leaders who have convinced their citizens to stick with Greece and continue bailing it out must be tearing their hair out. A report in December by Transparency International rated Greece the most corrupt of any EU country.

      The latest Greek scandal follows another ongoing drama involving onetime finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, who just last week was expelled from his socialist Pasok party for allegedly removing names of his family members from the so-called Lagarde list. A parliamentary probe into his actions may follow. This list, which went missing for two years and is now the subject of a parliamentary inquiry, purports to name people who evaded taxes by socking away some €2 billion in a Swiss bank account.

      Those arrested over possible tourism agency embezzlement so far include five people allegedly linked to the check-cashing incident. The check was made out to a hotel on a Greek island for services never rendered. When the woman tried to cash it, a bank official called the tourism agency, according to the WSJ, and was told to stop payment. One man arrested is a former special adviser to the former general secretary of the agency, Nikos Karahalios, who left his post at the agency on Dec. 20 after just 12 weeks in office. His name was reportedly on the check. He says it was forged.

      In about a month, an auditing team is expected to issue its findings. They’re examining allegations of a decade’s worth of overpayments (paywall) on media campaigns and hotels by the national tourism agency.
      Slayer Of The Modern "greek" Myth!!!

      Comment

      • Risto the Great
        Senior Member
        • Sep 2008
        • 15658

        #4
        Originally posted by TrueMacedonian View Post
        When you think you have read it all modern greece always seems to come through with more comedic material for our amusement
        They lie about who or what they are. You can't get more fundamental than that. Corruption is a logical extension of their hysteria.
        Risto the Great
        MACEDONIA:ANHEDONIA
        "Holding my breath for the revolution."

        Hey, I wrote a bestseller. Check it out: www.ren-shen.com

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