Prosecutors in Greece order birth cert probe

Prosecutors across Greece were ordered yesterday to conduct emergency checks of birth records from the past six years, after the arrest of a Gypsy couple on suspicion of abducting a little girl triggered fears of widespread welfare fraud.

The girl, known as Maria, was found living with her alleged abductors at a Gypsy camp. The blond-haired, fair-skinned girl, believed to be aged 5 or 6, was spotted during a police raid last week because her features did not appear to match those of the couple looking after her. DNA tests showed they were not her biological parents as claimed on her birth certificate.

The Gypsy camp suspects, Eleftheria Dimopoulou, 40, and Christos Salis, 39, received more than €2,500 in monthly welfare payments after declaring they had 14 children, eight of whom are unaccounted for and presumed not to exist, authorities said. They were jailed on charges of abduction and document fraud.