Pizza Fan: Revealing dialogues, 5,000 Excel files and Antaras's statement at Evelpidon court
Dialogues reveal pressure on Pizza Fan outlets over fictitious gratuities and threats of delivery exclusion. Owner K. Antaras is due to give his statement today for tax evasion and extortion charges.
Revealing conversations and 5,000 Excel files in the shadow of Pizza Fan
Revealing dialogues that come to light today lay bare how the fictitious gratuities scheme operated in Pizza Fan outlets, as well as the pressure exerted on those that did not comply. According to Ethnos, in the course of investigations approximately 5,000 Excel files stored on USB drives were found, in which sums allegedly arising from this practice were recorded.
Based on reporting by MEGA for the Live News programme, the material includes recorded conversations that cast the "mastermind" of the scheme in the role of coordinator — with direct orders to outlets that were not adequately exploiting the gratuity "trick".
"I can cut off his delivery too"
In one of the recorded conversations, the leader requests a list of outlets not using gratuities at takeaway:
— Leader: Send me the list of shops that don't have the gratuities they could have at takeaway, so I can find out why they're doing that. — Gratuities manager: I'll give you only the shops that clearly don't use it, so it's all together. — Leader: That's right, because what am I going to do with all the others. — Gratuities manager: And if you want I can give it to you every month. — Leader: Yes, because if someone doesn't want to, I have no problem. I can cut off his delivery too. But there's a chance they might not understand, so I need to find out what's going on. But then they shouldn't complain afterwards.
Outlets that refused to follow the practice were threatened with exclusion from deliveries and their orders transferred to other outlets in the network that complied with the "instructions".
Gratuity percentages by city — leadership's discontent
Other conversations reflect the concern of the leadership team about low gratuity percentages in individual outlets:
— Operations manager: Larissa is using only 1.2%. — Leader: He hasn't caught on, mate. — Operations manager: Are there other shops like that below 5%? — Gratuities manager: Geraka is at 6.6%.
In Nea Makri, the percentage stood at 14.3%, with an additional sum of approximately 6,400 euros, and the leadership reacted strongly:
— Gratuities manager: Are we going to look at Nea Makri? It's running at 14.3%. And it has approximately 6,400 which is even 7.37%. — Leader: Will you drive me mad that this is normal? I mean she sleeps inside that shop. Well, don't they understand how much margin they have? Or are they scared? What are they scared of?
Debts in cash and code names
A third category of conversations concerns outlets' debts from gratuities. In one conversation an accountant informs the "deputy leader":
— Accountant: Can I ask a quick question? You told me to call L… about the bathroom. My inspector tells me that L… owes us 300 euros in gratuities here. — Deputy leader: If that's the case, do what you think is right.
From the investigations it emerges that inspectors used code names: the term "off the books" referred to cash and "flow" to money deposited in bank accounts. In a conversation about outlets in Heraklion, inspectors recorded unpaid months and specific sums — 1,595, 1,173, 1,418, 1,497 and 1,710 euros respectively.
Technical support and the Chalkida case
The system was also supported by technicians, who ensured that the gratuities service remained active in all outlets. Characteristic is the conversation about Chalkida, where for four months the outlet was unable to record gratuities:
— Manager: Is there any chance you know why Chalkida doesn't have gratuities? Can't it do gratuities, is there some reason? — Operations manager: Because they've obviously closed it. — Manager: Yes, but it's telling me that for the last 4 months it can't do it. — Operations manager: Let's call the IT guys to open the gratuities. But for that to have happened, they would have had to request it themselves. — Manager: They did, they told me 3–4 months ago they requested it because the tax office had been there.
Antaras gives his statement today at Evelpidon
Konstantinos Antaras, owner of Pizza Fan, is being brought before the Evelpidon courts today, Tuesday 27 October, to give his statement before the investigating magistrate in the tax evasion case. A key point of his statement is expected to centre on explanations for the sum of 1,000,000 euros in cash found in a safe inside his residence.
According to what his defence has stated, the businessman is expected to declare his willingness to file amended tax returns for the payment of any outstanding taxes. At the same time, he is expected to deny the serious charges attributed to him, which include alleged extortions and circulation of undeclared funds.
Felony charges for criminal organisation and money laundering
Felony charges have been brought against those involved for constituting, joining and directing a criminal organisation, tax evasion exceeding 150,000 euros through non-payment of VAT and inaccurate income declarations, direct participation and particularly aggravated legalisation of proceeds from criminal activities. Statements began on Monday with the first group of defendants.
Source: Ethnos