Greek authorities are widening an investigation into suspicious activities by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that relate to human smuggling and tax evasion.
The Greek National Intelligence Service has identified three more organizations with “suspicious backgrounds and shady transactions,” according to LiFO.
“The first analysis of the data showed that the specific three organizations do not have VAT and bank accounts in Greece, with their roles being considered at least suspicious. Thus, all their activity has come under the microscope and developments are expected soon,” the outlet reports.
Organizations operating without designated tax (VAT) identification numbers are effectively ‘ghost entities,’ making their financial transactions difficult to trace.
At least 313 NGOs working in the field of immigration are currently operating in Greece, according to Proto Thema.
“It’s a big business,” said German MP Petr Bystron. Berlin is believed to be a headquarters for several NGOs implicated in the scandal.
“They [German government] are distributing 50 billion euro a year – and this is just the number they are admitting, so we can guess it’s maybe 100 billion euro a year – to organizations,” Bystron said.”