How they get their hands on NGO funds

2023-06-07 11:52:27

The first page of the Authority’s report. Out of more than 100 NGOs audited, indications of embezzlement and dishonesty emerged for 40.

Report-report on the methods used by managers Non-Governmental Organizations in order to embezzle money from the funds of the organizations they were drawn up and made public by the Money Laundering Authority.

Such as “K” reveals today, the document is entitled “Abusive Exploitation of Non-Profit Organizations” and has 16 pages. It is no coincidence that it was posted on the Authority’s website almost simultaneously with the publication of the seizure of the assets of a Greek activist, who is under investigation as a suspect for criminal disloyalty against the NGO he led. “To obtain benefits, the perpetrators used the system’s weaknesses and the absence of a unified regulatory framework and adequate supervision of NGOs, simultaneously exploiting the financial system both domestically and abroad,” the report’s conclusions state. According to well-informed sources, the Rinsing principlewhich is headed by Charalambos Vourliotis, has carried out audits in the last two years in more than 100 Non-Governmental Organizations.

Some of them provide assistance to immigrants and some do not. The controls were carried out either ex officio or following information provided to the Authority by financial institutions regarding suspicious transfers. More rarely, investigations were carried out following requests from abroad. Of the total of more than 100 NGOs audited, strong indications of embezzlement and disloyalty emerged for 40. The Anti-Money Laundering Authority froze the assets of administrators and sent findings to prosecutors for criminal prosecution.

From the analysis of the cases, specific conclusions emerged – findings about the methods that the managers of the NGOs allegedly use in order to get their hands on the funds of the organizations. The main ones are listed in the 16-page document.

The methods used by their managers to embezzle money are presented in a report by the Money Laundering Authority.

“The perpetrators, as managers or real beneficiaries of the exploited NGO, use the income of the organization in question to buy real estate. Through the accounts of the NGO, they pay real estate transfer taxes, which, however, pass to the property of the perpetrators and not the NGO”, is one of the methods recorded by the Authority. Cases are also pointed out in which the administrators hired people they trusted, the latter returning in the form of remittances to the personal accounts of the heads of NGOs money paid to them as salaries.

In other cases, the administrators or beneficiaries of the Non-Governmental Organizations using less sophisticated methods, with the income of the organizations cover their living expenses, as well as the maintenance costs e.g. of their homes.

In addition to the eight methods of money embezzlement, the Authority also lists a series of “danger indicators” or red flags that should activate the reflexes of the auditing and prosecuting authorities. These include payroll credits from other NGOs, sending remittances from NGO accounts to accounts of companies operating abroad, etc.