Pizza Fan: Nine arrests and €500,000 seizures in €25 million tax evasion case
Nine people, including the owner of Pizza Fan, were arrested in an operation by the Greek FBI across at least 20 outlets of the chain.
Raids on 20 Pizza Fan outlets — nine arrests for tax fraud
Nine arrests were made in recent hours as part of a major operation by the Greek FBI targeting the Pizza Fan chain, with authorities conducting inspections at at least 20 outlets of the company across the country. According to Ethnos, in the vast majority of the outlets inspected, evidence was found of the use of a specific method for illegal recording of transactions.
The temporary managers of the outlets where findings were identified were taken into custody immediately following the inspections. At the centre of the case is an alleged system of recording sales as "complimentary items", which, according to police sources, was used to conceal transactions and avoid payment of the corresponding VAT. The estimated damage to the state exceeds €25 million.
The owner at the top — accountants and programmer among those arrested
Among the nine people who are, according to police sources, "at the top of the pyramid" are the company owner, a senior executive, accountants, a programmer and store managers. In the sights of investigators are both those allegedly playing a central role in planning the mechanism and the managers of the outlets where the disputed practice was implemented.
Authorities also proceeded to seize cash exceeding €500,000, as well as luxury cars, jewellery and other assets being examined as part of the investigation.
Specialised software converted paid orders into "complimentary items"
The manner of operation of the alleged mechanism is at the heart of the investigation. According to publicly disclosed information, specialised software had been installed in the ordering system of the outlets, through which normal transactions could be displayed internally as zero-value.
In practice, the customer paid for their order and received a receipt; however, the same transaction is said to have been recorded in the system as a "complimentary item" — that is, with no economic value. In this way, part of the actual turnover did not appear in the tax information declared to the authorities. This practice primarily concerned cash transactions.
Investigation into activity dating from 2022
Authorities are tasked with establishing the exact manner of operation of the mechanism, which people had access to it and the total financial benefit for those involved. According to information transmitted so far by Ethnos, the case concerns activity alleged to have begun in 2022.
Source: Ethnos