6 years off work, no one noticed
A long-service award "outed" a Spanish civil servant who had failed to pitch up for work for at least six years. The award brought Joaquin Garcia's long absence to light and has resulted in him being fined €27,000.He has denied the allegations and claims he was a victim of political bullying and was moved to a post where there was no work to do. The phantom official, as he has been called, had a salary of €37,000 a year before tax. He has since retired.Garcia's job was to supervise the building of a waste water treatment plant in the city of Cadiz. A court ruled that he had to pay the fine, which is equivalent to his year's salary after tax.The court heard that the water company thought he was supervised by local authorities and vice versa.The boss of the water company had not seen Garcia for years even though his office was opposite his.Garcia is opposing the court decision and has written to the mayor. ..
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