A big raid by tax authorities in bars in Kavos on the island of Corfu revealed a truly disgusting practice: bartenders collected in canisters the rests from customers’ drinks and served them again to other customers as shots.
The big scale operation by the Independent Public Revenue Authority AADE to locate tax evasion and adulterated drinks in Kavos ended in the temporary closure of 28 bars.
Kavos in the south of Corfu is notorious among foreign tourists, mostly British, for its wild parties. This is an area which is informally considered as “no-go zone“, as a result of which no checks of any kind have been carried out for many years, state-run news agency amna noted.
AADE tax and customs auditors assisted by police officers raided the bars from Wednesday to Friday, August 30-September 1, 2023.
The auditors raided several bars and restaurants in the area simultaneously, asking to check if receipts have been issued and formally registered, while the customs officials checked if the served drinks were clean and not adulterated or smuggled.
Throughout the operation, AADE staff were in direct communication with inspectors through the Operations Room and monitored the progress of the inspections, receiving real-time videos and photos of the findings.
From the controls, the following were found:
-26 catering businesses did not issue at least 40,578 receipts, with a total value of 267,418 euros
– 2 catering businesses did not transmit 1,204 receipts, with a total value of 8,252 euros
-7 catering establishments served drinks that did not have lot number markings, so these are smuggled/illegal and possibly adulterated. In fact, 8 samples were taken, the contents of which have already been sent to the State General Chemistry.
They served shots of drinks from rests in other glasses
Typical are the cases of bars, in which the auditors found that they collected what was left in the glasses of customers, poured them into a barrel, and from there they served shots to tourists.
These businesses were closed for 48 hours and fines were imposed.
Checks continue in other tourist areas, state-run news agency amna reported.
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