Greek food businesses face investigations into alleged tax evasion

Investigations into Greek businesses, including the pizza chain Pizza Fan and the bakery To Horiatiko, have highlighted significant gaps in recovering lost tax revenue. Reports indicate that in major tax evasion cases with a Greek connection, the estimated total loss reaches 1.04 billion euros, while seized or frozen assets amount to only approximately 19.2 million euros. This represents a recovery rate of roughly 2 percent.

One major investigation, known as the Calypso case, involves the illegal import of Chinese products through the Port of Piraeus. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office estimates the loss from customs duties and VAT at 800 million euros across the involved countries. In Greece, 4.75 million euros have been seized in relation to this case. Additionally, authorities have seized 2,435 shipping containers at Piraeus with an estimated commercial value of 250 million euros.

The scrutiny of these Greek cases has drawn comparisons to historical global food industry scandals, such as the Parmalat accounting fraud in Italy and Patisserie Valerie in the United Kingdom, raising questions regarding the ability of regulators to detect large-scale financial misconduct.