PEOPLE who owe the state money might find themselves having to pay off their debts sooner rather than later according to Justice and Public Order Minister, Loucas Louca.
Louca said that there was no procedure in place for deleting outdated debts but stressed that the ministry was cooperating with all relevant bodies to get a better idea of how much money the state is owed.
The minister clarified that people who had died or had filed for bankruptcy were still sought by the police and the state for uncollected fines or social insurance contributions.
Louca said that there were also several cases of companies that owe the state money, but that have since ceased to exist, a feat that further complicates the issue.
“We need to make amendments to the procedure and proceed in an extensive investigation so that we finally get a clearer view of the situation” said Louca.
The minister clarified that these were issues that have consistently plagued the state and the procedure, resulting in the state not having a clue how much money it is actually owed.
Quizzed whether the authorities would proceed with arrests against people who owe the state money, Louca said that the police had indeed several warrants in its possession that had not been executed due to the problematic procedure.
“We are looking into fixing the procedure but of course we will bear in mind that we are in the midst of an economic crisis” said Louca.
The minister said that he had met with the Labour Minister on Thursday to receive information about uncollected social insurance contributions and would meet all other relevant bodies to get more information.
Meanwhile police chief, Michalis Papageorgiou said that the force was doing its outmost to collect money from uncollected fines and clarified that this was an issue that the police hierarchy was taking very seriously.
“This problem is significant and consistent over the years and although things have not proceeded as we expected, we are addressing it robustly” said Papageorgiou.
He said that after revelations from the media, the members of the force that had not paid their fines were ordered to do so promptly and all of their fines were collected.
