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Greece: Nationwide birth certificate probe ordered in case of girl found in Roma camp

Associated Press
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In this police handout photo taken on Thursday , Oct. 17, 2013, Greek Roma, Eleftheria Dimopoulou, 40, or Selini Sali —a woman who has two separate sets of identity papers. is seen in the Larisa regional police headquarters, Greece. Dimopoulou and her companion have been charged with abducting a little girl found living with them in a Gypsy settlement. Police in Greece on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, have released the photographs of a couple alleged adductors of a girl known “Maria” after they were formally taken onto pre-trial custody and an international search for the girl’s parents intensified. (AP Photo/Greek Police) (The Associated Press)

In this police handout photo taken on Thursday , Oct. 17, 2013, Greek Roma, or Gypsy, man Christos Salis, 39, is seen in the Larisa regional police headquarters, Greece. Salis and his companion have been charged with abducting a little girl found living with them in a Gypsy settlement. Police in Greece on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, have released the photographs of a couple alleged adductors of a girl known “Maria” after they were formally taken onto pre-trial custody and an international search for the girl’s parents intensified. (AP Photo/Greek Police) (The Associated Press)

In this police handout photo taken on Thursday , Oct. 17, 2013, Christos Salis, 39, right, and his companion Eleftheria Dimopoulou, 40, or Selini Sali — as the woman has two separate sets of identity papers. pose with the little girl only known as "Maria" in the Larisa regional police headquarters, Greece. Police in Greece have released the photographs of a couple alleged adductors of a girl known “Maria” after they were formally taken onto pre-trial custody and an international search for the girl’s parents intensified. (AP Photo/Greek Police) (The Associated Press)

A top Greek prosecutor has ordered an emergency nationwide investigation into birth certificates issued in the past six years after a girl was discovered living with alleged abductors at a gypsy camp.

Supreme Court prosecutor Efterpi Koutzamani ordered the inquiry Tuesday for birth certificates issued after Jan. 1, 2008, amid news media reports of benefit fraud by families declaring births in multiple administrative regions.

A couple has been jailed on charges of abduction and document fraud. "Maria" believed to aged 5-6 was taken into protective care last week after DNA tests established that the couple was not her natural parents.