Greece’s anti-money laundering authority has ordered the freezing of assets belonging to defendants in two recently uncovered tax fraud cases involving pizza chain Pizza Fan and bakery chain ‘Horiatiko’.
The order was issued by Charalampos Vourliotis, head of the Independent Authority for Money Laundering and an honorary deputy prosecutor at Greece’s Supreme Court. It covers all assets held by the accused, including bank accounts and safe-deposit boxes.
However, the order specifically excludes bank accounts used to pay employees’ wages, ensuring that the asset freeze does not jeopardize workers’ claims to unpaid or outstanding compensation.
The authority has taken particular care to safeguard payroll funds in both cases, applying the same exemption to accounts used to pay employees of the ‘Horiatiko’ bakery chain.
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The measure aims to protect workers caught up in the cases despite having no responsibility for the offenses.