Bulgarian fraudsters’ ingenious ways to cheat the state
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SOFIA — Siphoning off pipeline fuel, placing illiterate people at the top of heavily-indebted firms: Bulgaria’s fraudsters have dozens of ingenious ways to swindle money from the state.
Only last week, electricity was cut for an hour across one-third of the capital when it was discovered copper casings had been stolen from a surprising nine kilometers (5.6 miles) of cables.
Czech power producer CEZ, which manages Sofia’s electricity supplies, said the missing copper would bring 12,000 euros ($17,000) but the theft would cost CEZ six times that to repair damage.
One of the latest schemes involves hiring fake staff for dummy companies to defraud health insurance firms, economic police chief Darina Obretenova told AFP.
Poor, illiterate people are taken on and given a nominal salary, sometimes for a top-level position with supposed high pay..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101026com3.html
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