GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Ilias G. Anagnostopoulos and Padelis V. Bratis, ANAGNOSTOPOULOS
1. Fraud Claims 1.1 General Characteristics of Fraud Claims A distinction should be drawn between criminal and civil fraud claims, under the provisions of the Greek Criminal Code (GCC) and the Greek Civil Code (GCivC), respectively. Criminal Law Fraud Article 386 GCC describes the basic type of fraud, which is committed by knowingly representing untrue facts as true or by unlawfully concealing or suppress - ing true facts, and, in this way, persuading another person to act or omit to act, thus causing pecuniary damage. The intent of the perpetrator to gain illicit financial benefit for themselves or a third party is required. The GCC also provides for fraud variants, including: • computer fraud (Article 386A), which is committed by abusing electronic data; and • subsidies fraud (Article 386B), whereby the perpe - trator illegally obtains or misuses public funds. Fraud exceeding EUR120,000 is considered a felony under Greek criminal law and entails imprisonment of a maximum of ten years and a monetary penalty. It is noteworthy that special criminal provisions might apply to certain types of fraud (eg, tax fraud, customs fraud, securities fraud). Corruption Offences involving corrupt payments include: • bribery, active and passive, in the public sector (Articles 235 and 236 GCC), namely the act of giv - ing/receiving or promising/accepting, directly or through third parties/intermediaries, undue benefits or gain to/from a public official for committing or omitting an act in the exercise of one’s duties or against one’s duties; and • bribery, active and passive, in the private sector (Article 396 GCC), which is an act of giving/receiv - ing unlawful benefits or gain, directly or indirectly, in exchange for an action or omission contrary to
one’s duties (as defined by law, contract, agree - ment, etc). Special rules apply regarding the bribery of judges (Article 237 GCC) and the bribery of political officials (Articles 159 and 159A GCC). Breach of fiduciary duties Τhe perpetrator of this offence (Article 390 GCC) is someone entrusted with the administration of another (natural or legal) person’s property and who intention - ally causes financial losses to it, by not respecting the applicable diligent management rules. Penalties to be imposed vary, depending on the total of damages caused, while the breach of fiduciary duties in respect of state-owned property constitutes an aggravating factor, involving even stricter penalties According to Article 176 of Law 4548/2018, the found - er, member of the board of directors or director of a company who knowingly makes false or misleading positive statements to the public, either concerning the coverage or payment of capital or for the purposes of subscription to securities issued by the company, is punished with imprisonment and a fine ranging from EUR10,000 to EUR100,000. Conspiracy Preparatory acts related to the subsequent commis - sion of a crime (including fraud) are, as a rule, not punishable under Greek criminal law. Exceptionally, such acts are punishable only when related to certain serious offences (eg, the circulation of counterfeit cur - rency). Civil Law Contractual liability Anyone who has been deceived into making a decla - ration of intent has the right to request the annulment of said legal act and may also seek restitution for fur - ther damages incurred (Article 147 et seq GCivC). Tort claims The injured party is entitled to compensation, includ - ing for material and moral damage caused by the (imprisonment of up to 20 years). False statements and declarations
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