That is, however, exactly the situation that played out this morning in the eastern Athens suburb of Loutsa, and which ended in the arrest of Michalis Liapis, transport minister from 2004 – 2007 and culture minister from 2007 – 2009.  

After he failed to heed a stop sign, two motorcycle police stopped Mr Liapis. What would have been a relatively routine incident however became more complicated when he failed to produce his driver’s license.

The police then checked the car’s plates and were startled to discover that they were forged. The original plates had previously been turned in to the tax office, allowing Mr Liapis to avoid paying road tax. Mr Liapis luxury Volkswagen SUV was also uninsured, although he was later able to produce his license.

Aside from receiving an on the spot €500 fine, Mr Liapis was placed under arrest, cited for forgery, driving an uninsured vehicle and giving false statements. He is due to appear before the Prosecutor this afternoon.

The incident of course immediately caused a storm on Twitter with thousands of tweets mocking the ex cabinet minister under the hashtag freeliapis.

Some were quick to point out that it doesn't appear that Liapis would have had trouble insuring his car:

While tongue firmly in cheek, another commenter urged caution saying that Mr Liapis’s lawyer had denied the license plates were forgeries: