An investigation to determine whether tax evasion offenses were committed is underway at the Tax Department after what was revealed in the context of the lawsuit filed by businessman Miltiadis Neophytou against former President Dimitris Christofias. The fact was confirmed in a letter to the Parliament (dated 15/12/2016) by the General Director of the Ministry of Finance, Chr. Patsalidis. However, as he states in his letter, "due to the confidentiality of the data, it is not possible to provide any additional information regarding the progress of this case".
George Perdikis requested the information of the Parliament, who called on the Minister of Finance to inform the Parliament whether the Tax Department will proceed with the examination of the complaints-allegations made by Miltiadis Neophytou, filing in the Court against Mr. Christofias. Complaints concerning both the change of the urban zone in the area "Halepianes" and the requirement for the provision of early receipts of € 200.000 to include Mr. Christofias, according to the allegations of Miltiadis Neophytos, in his statement "Pothen Esches" previous year (2012).
As Mr. Patsalidis states in his letter to the Parliament, the policy pursued by the Tax Department in this case as well as in others of a similar nature is the following: In the first stage, an official of the Tax Department is appointed, with terms of mandate to monitor and collect all information that sees the light of day in relation to the case. This officer evaluates at the same time, for tax purposes, all those involved, based on the data that exist in the tax bases of the Tax Department. Where it is considered that the tax credibility of those involved does not at first sight appear to be appropriate or new data are presented, then the necessary steps are taken to collect the necessary information and data.
It is worth mentioning that the involvement of the Tax Department in this case was requested by the Auditor General, who, publicly, indicated that there are issues to be investigated.
Source: Liberal