The app and the Paper Dragon
Conscientious taxpayers helped bust a ring that defrauded the state with phony receipts
Taxpayers have evolved into an important factor in the disclosure of tax evasion. With a sense of responsibility, or realizing how much they lose from evasion by having to pay higher taxes and contributions, they are contributing to efforts by the auditing authorities to crack down on dodgers.
It was an anonymous whistleblower who exposed a ring of 287 Chinese-owned businesses that tampered with cash registers while reporting a tenth of every transaction to the tax office.
Therefore, through anonymous complaints on the relevant platform and the “appodixi application,” the first batch of businesses that issued receipts with an unreadable QR code were identified in Komotini, Larissa and Thessaloniki. The audits revealed a well-organized tax evasion ring throughout the country, with the involvement of Greek and Chinese businessmen, companies supplying cash registers, special mechanisms and software, accountants and technicians.
Following the complaint, the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) and the police launched an operation, codenamed “Paper Dragon.”
It all started in January, when anonymous complaints reached AADE about illegal practices in a company based in Komotini, another in Larissa and a branch in Thessaloniki.
The AADE investigation showed that behind the Chinese businesses was a software company with a Greek legal representative and two Chinese residents of Slovakia, who provided technical support for the offenders by “hacking” their cash registers. Given that some of these 287 businesses have up to 16 branches across Greece, it appears that a large-scale VAT and income tax theft machine was set up at the expense of the Greek state, the losses for which cannot yet be assessed.
By cross-checking the information, the AADE auditors established the existence of the illegal software, which, according to the data presented by director Giorgos Pitsilis, sent AADE a transaction value of 9.90 euros for a €99 receipt and a €2.1 document for a €21 receipt.
