The details of the spiral with the municipal employees of Athens are impressive who extorted store owners, asking for large sums of money not to “cut” administrative violations.
For the case of the extortion ring in Athens, 14 people were arrested, including 9 civil servants, once morest whom a case file was filed – as the case may be – for criminal organization, extortion, bribery of an employee, bribery of an employee, forgery, breach of official confidentiality, violation duty, false certification, for violations of sports, weapons and immigration laws. According to a SKAI report, among those arrested are employees of the Municipality of Athens.
In the wake of the spiral following a complaint
The file also includes 9 employees, who did not have a role as members of the organization, but assisted its work, without permanent participation. The existence of the criminal organization was made following a complaint regarding a woman, who, in cooperation with municipal authorities, blackmailed shopkeepers, with the aim of their financial benefit.
In the organization in question, the leading members of which were a woman and a man, while the Head of a municipal Authority and also employees of other public services of the prefecture of Attica, responsible for inspections of shops of health interest, were recruited and joined as members, while other private individuals also participated, the who had distinct roles, namely:
43-year-old and 64-year-old (individuals), leading members of the organization, coordinated the action of all members, including employees,
A 41-year-old private person, a relative of the 43-year-old woman, had assumed the role of collector – cashier, receiving the sums of money from the shopkeepers, which he stored and then, by order of the leading members, distributed to the other members. He also served as the 43-year-old’s driver and companion.
A 75-year-old woman, a relative of the 43-year-old and the 41-year-old, had given space in her home to store the money,
55-year-old, had assumed the role of driver of the 43-year-old, as well as the role of debt collector,
the rest, holding a position in the public sector, were in charge of controlling health shops, hotels and construction works (Municipalities, Municipal Police, Construction Services, Health Control Directorates, Ministry of Culture, etc.) and played a key role in the operation of the organization, as it was impossible to develop its illegal activity without their assistance.
How did the organization work?
The leading members approached shopkeepers, mainly in the Athens area, to whom they offered and provided protection in order to avoid administrative violations.
At the behest of the leaders, the officials carried out targeted checks on the shops in question in order to force them to submit to the extortion.
Officers would provide information regarding upcoming store inspections to supervisors, who would then inform store owners to be prepared.
Officials were paid to overlook violations, as well as to attest to false facts in public documents, while in many cases they did not go through the required checks and drew up false documents.
In fact, the leaders directed the employees for targeted checks in stores, as well as for confirming specific violations in them. In this way, shopkeepers were forced to turn to the organization in order to protect themselves by paying money.
In the event that the shop owners did not accept the protection provided by the organization, they received threats that they would be subject to inspections by municipal authorities and would be “cut” by administrative fines.
The members, in order for their action not to be noticed, took protection measures, with their meetings (among themselves or with the shopkeepers) and donations taking place in specific places, while their communications were carried out through online applications with strict protection measures.
Loyalty 700,000 per year
The members of the organization received sums of money ranging from 6,000 to 16,000 euros per year, from shops of health interest, 1,500 per year from kiosks, while cases were identified where they received fees from 1,000 to 35,000 euros for an illegal action or omission.
The above sums were then distributed among the members of the criminal organization and, in particular, for their illegal activity they received, for example:
Municipal Police officer: from 3,000 to 6,000 euros per store, per year.
Building Services employee: from 1,000 to 2,500 euros per case.
employees of Health Control Directorates: from 250 to 2,000 euros per case.
employees of the Ministry of Culture: from 6,000 to 10,000 euros per case.
From the investigations so far, 47 cases have been identified, while the total benefit is estimated to exceed the amount of 700,000 euros per year.
What was found?
In searches carried out, among others, were found and seized:
439,140 euros,
26 watches,
golden pound,
19 mobiles,
3 laptops,
3 hard drives,
7 cartridges,
pepper spray,
96 anabolic tablets and
number of seals, responsible declarations and documents.
Those arrested were taken to the competent prosecuting authority.
The announcement of the Municipality of Athens
With an announcement, the Municipality of Athens speaks of zero tolerance for corruption:
“Regarding the dismantling of a criminal organization in which municipal employees participated, with action since at least January 2023, we make it clear that the Municipal Authority of the Municipality of Athens demonstrates zero tolerance for corruption phenomena and the action of criminal rings. For this reason, throughout the previous period he cooperated with the competent authorities and continues to support their work in any way deemed necessary for the fastest clarification of the case. It goes without saying that all the employees involved are immediately put on holiday while all the prescribed procedures by the competent services of the Municipality will proceed at the same time.
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