ATHENS – A scheme to evade taxes by 287 Chinese-owned retail businesses in Greece by using software reporting only 10 percent of their income, was discovered and found to have involved a Greek legal representative.

Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) chief Giorgos Pitsilis said the software was distributed to the companies and that the scheme included two Chinese residents of Slovakia giving technical support.

It was exposed after citizens reported that the QR codes on receipts issued by the businesses couldn’t be scanned with reports the plot seems to have started in 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic was wreaking havoc.

During a check conducted over 27 days in February of 2023, some 227 Chinese-owned retail businesses issued 220,000 receipts and reported 3 million euros ($3.26 million) in revenue to the AADE.

The scheme involved companies supplying cash registers, specialized mechanisms and software, accountants and technicians was revealed by inspectors including the Greek police in an operation codenamed Paper Dragon.

Pitsilis said anonymous complaints online using the “appodixi” receipt app reported violations by companies in Komotini, Larissa and Thessaloniki giving receipts with unreadable QR codes, said the Athens-Macedonia News Agency.

The operation was conducted simultaneously in 11 locations across Greece: Kallithea, Palio Faliro, Patisia, Porto Rafti, Komotini, Kos, Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Karditsa, Larissa and Corinth in an extensive scrutiny.