The strengthening of the Financial Crimes Squad (SDOE) will lead to Greece immediately collecting 2.5 billion euros from tax evaders, State Minister for Combating Corruption Panayiotis Nikoloudis said Tuesday.

Nikoloudis, the former head of the anti-money laundering authority, said the government would pass a law allowing SDOE to rubber-stamp the imposition of tax rather than having to pass it over to tax offices, which often lack the resources to follow up.

He said there are currently some 3,500 cases of tax evasion, totaling 7 billion euros, which have been unearthed by authorities but the state has yet to collect the taxes due. He said that 2.5 billion euros of this total could be retrieved straight away.