Nine charged over funeral fraud

A council of appeals court judges has indicted nine people – former chairmen and vice-chairmen of the Municipal Funeral Services of Kalamaria, in Thessaloniki – to stand trial over financial irregularities after inspectors found a 2.5-million-euro hole in the company’s coffers.

The charges against the nine suspects include breach of duty and extortion. An audit covering the period between 2002-2006 allegedly exposed a string of tax code violations and other financial irregularities.

According to the indictment, in 2005 the company spent nearly 370,000 euros on flowers and obituary and memorial service notices without issuing any invoices. Over the same year, the municipal company collected 120,000 euros in fees for services for which it issued no invoice.