The loan sharks, connected to Mafia groups, charge annualized interest rates of 60%. Borrowers could also pay 5 to 15% interest on a weekly basis. If you didn’t pay up, there were punishments.
Many of these usurers are tied to gangs in the Balkans and Eastern Europe.
One of the biggest windfalls for the Greek Mafia is the black market for oil in the country. Because Greek law sets the price of shipping fuel (one-third the price for fuel for cars and homes), there is a huge illicit trade in gasoline.
Mafia members ship the gasoline at the cheap rate then sell it at the market rate for cars and homes. Roughly 20% of all gasoline sold in Greece is from the Mafia black market.
To do their dirty work, the Mafia has corrupted politicians, leading one political expert to label Greece as a “parliamentary mafiocracy.” It’s impossible to sell 20% of the country’s fuel needs without heads being paid to turn the other way. And it may start at the top government circles.
It seems the Mafia always thrives in the worst economic conditions – depression, war, etc.
In Greece, the Mafia has wormed its way into the system and produced one of the highest corrupted systems in Europe, with consumers paying higher prices for not only petrol but many other products as well.
journaloftheabroad
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