Farmers’ fund uncovers vacation scam

The head of the farmers’ insurance fund (OGA), Panayiotis Petroulas, revealed Wednesday that hotel owners had benefited from a scam relating to subsidized vacations offered by the organization.

According to Petroulas, some of those eligible for OGA-sponsored breaks sold their tickets to travel agencies, which in turn would sell them to the hotels that were due to host the visitors.

The hotels would then claim the money from OGA without actually having incurred any expense. Petroulas said checks were carried out at 30 hotels taking part in the program and 25 were found to be closed when they should have been hosting farmers and their families.

Petroulas did not reveal what financial damages OGA may have suffered but said the vacation scheme costs the organization some 20 million euros.

Ekathimerini.com