Greece: Homeless used in VIP taxi scam

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Police have busted a phony VIP taxi service in Greece that was using the bank accounts of homeless people to collect deposits from cab drivers.

Police spokesman Christos Parthenis said Monday that seven people have been arrested.

They are accused of taking more than 110,000 euros ($141,300) in deposits from drivers who were promised a customer list that would include officials from the European Commission and the World Health Organization.

Parthenis said a 66-year-old man and 39-year-old woman, both Greek, were accused of paying panhandlers and homeless people in Athens to use their bank accounts to collect the deposits.

Taxi drivers, approached around the country, typically paid a 1,500 euro ($1,925) deposit to join the service, which promised to pay them 300 ($385) a day for at least a month.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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