Prosecutor orders investigation into birth certificates

Supreme Court prosecutor Efterpi Koutzamani on Tuesday ordered a nationwide investigation into birth certificates issued in the past six years following the discovery of a blond girl living with a Roma couple who had falsely registered her as their own child.

Koutzamani ordered the inquiry into all birth certificates issued after January 1, 2008, amid news reports of benefit fraud by families across Greece. The reports suggest “the case regarding the young Maria, where a certificate of birth was issued on the basis of false statements, is not an isolated incident,” she said.

Meanwhile police raided Roma camps in Mesolongi and Aitoliko, in western Greece, and on the Ionian island of Corfu. Twenty-four people were detained and one was charged with stealing electricity from state power lines.