AP reports from Thessalonik that a Greek prosecutor on Sunday charged seven people for fraudulently selling large quantities of adulterated sunflower oil as olive oil in Greece and abroad.
The seven, a family of four and three of their relatives, were arrested by police and they are also charged with forming a criminal gang, defrauding the state, falsifying documents and money laundering. They will face an examining magistrate later in the week, the prosecutor’s office announced.
The seven were arrested near the city of Larissa, in the central Greek province of Thessaly, about 150 kilometers (95 miles) south of the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, by the financial crimes squad of northern Greek police.
They were discovered operating a workshop where they added a dye to turn the yellow sunflower seed oil into a green hue resembling olive oil.
The adulterated oil was sold in five-liter (1.32-gallon) cans, off-market, to Greek consumers and exported, in one-ton pallets, chiefly to Germany.
Police located on the premises five tons of adulterated oil ready for packaging and 12 pallets ready for export. They also found a fleet of luxury cars, hence the charge of money laundering.
The product was peddled as “extra-virgin olive oil, straight from the producer.” Its domestic price was 12-15 euros ($14.30-$17.90) per five-liter can, compared to the retail price of 26-30 euros ($31-$35.80) for the real oil.
Read more here.
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Petr Pakandl License: CC-BY-SA
Source: thenationalherald.com
