Anti-Money Laundering Authority: probe into €40m fraud

Greece’s Anti-Money Laundering Authority announced the findings of its investigation into alleged fake tax refunds on Tuesday, September 9, 2026. According to the announcement, 46 individuals, including accountants and tax consultants, are said to have used 152 shell companies during the 2023-2024 period. The total amount certified for refund amounts to 40 million euros, of which 16 million euros had already been paid out before the Authority’s intervention. The case is considered one of the most extensive disclosed this year in the field of tax inspections. The case was identified following cross-checks of records carried out by the Authority in the course of routine audits of tax refunds, a method that has proved useful in previous cases of fraudulent invoicing.

According to the investigation findings, the methods allegedly used included non-existent transactions and fake invoices, with false declarations in income tax, VAT, and 20% withholding tax. The case is being investigated under four categories: criminal organization, fraud against the State, tax evasion, and money laundering from criminal activity. The Authority has already proceeded to freeze assets against those involved, while the case file has been referred to the competent prosecutor for further action, a matter falling within the broader field of economic crime. The involvement of accountants and tax consultants, according to the findings, suggests an organized scheme that exploited specialized knowledge of tax procedures. The use of 152 different shell companies, according to the findings, was intended to fragment transactions so as to avoid their detection by usual audit mechanisms.

The case sheds light on the issue of fraudulent tax refunds, a phenomenon that according to the authorities damages public revenues and indirectly burdens all taxpayers. The difference between the amount certified, 40 million euros, and the amount ultimately paid out before the intervention, 16 million euros, shows the scale of the damage that audit mechanisms managed to prevent in time. The case is part of the broader framework of inspections for tax violations which, according to reports, have intensified recently, with the aim of restricting the use of shell companies for extracting public funds. The case is expected to be added to the list of major economic crime cases that have occupied the audit authorities in recent years in Greece.

The case is still at the investigation stage and, according to what has been disclosed, no arrests or prosecutions have been announced against specific individuals. Those involved are said to have participated in the fake refund scheme, though no court ruling has been issued so far on the matter, and the case remains at the level of administrative and pre-trial investigation. The competent prosecutor is expected to examine the file referred by the Anti-Money Laundering Authority, while the asset freezes remain in force pending further court proceedings. Until the investigative process is completed, no information about the names or identities of those involved has been disclosed by the authorities.