The evidence brought to light by the investigation of the public administration inspectors for the 5,260 civil servants who exported more than1.5 billion euros in the past few years reveals something that was common knowledge for everyone in touch with Greek reality. That the people have far more income to hide – which they cannot justify based on their wages – than to declare.
We justly denounce tax evasion from all sorts of big businessmen who constantly and consistently contribute far less to public expenses than their fair share. However there appears to be a rather important – and not at all insignificant, in numbers – category of citizens who use various legal and illegal means to enjoy incomes which are far greater than what they legally collect and are taxed upon.
It is weird and absurd for a law-abiding country that civil servants, who never had huge wages in the first place, to end up with huge bank accounts in foreign banks. This justifiably suggests that these incomes were generated by illicit transactions. It is common knowledge for every citizen wanting to deal with a problem in a public agency that the quickest way to a resolution is a kickback.
Obviously there are a significant number of civil servants who consciously perform their duties and struggle with wages that many times are less than what they should be receiving, based on what they offer. However, there is also another group of employees who don’t seem to have a problem asking for a “little something” in order to perform their duties.
The investigation of the public administration inspectors that was launched must separate the wheat from the chaff. It must administer justice, even if late, for all those who abused their role or service in order to gain illegal benefits. Hopefully this investigation will not be ignored or lost in the mazes of bureaucracy.
TO VIMA
