The 43-year-old alleged leader of the ring, according to information in her apology, denied the charge of directing a criminal organization attributed to her. The 43-year-old reportedly mentioned that she was responsible for helping businessmen to settle and process some outstanding issues they had with public services, i.e. she had a purely processing role. And in fact, what she claims is that none of the 48 businessmen who allegedly fell victim to the ring has testified once morest her.
She denied the charges and her brother pleaded not guilty, who also went to jail.
The alleged co-leader of the ring was also found and apologized to the interrogator, as well as two more defendants, including an executive from the town planning department of the municipality of Athens, who were deemed temporary prisoners.
Another defendant who appears to have been running errands was released under restrictive conditions. In total for the case, the judicial authorities sentenced seven defendants to temporary detention and another seven to freedom with the imposition of conditions.
The heavy charges facing the ring that extorted businessmen and the complaints
In fact, a total of 14 employees are alleged to have developed their illegal and multi-faceted activity by targeting catering businesses as booths from which they extorted money in order to avoid fines. Few seem to have been the businessmen who resisted them, one of them spoke exclusively to Live News.
“I was approached by this particular ring through a third person who told me to give money on a monthly basis, so that I might have a more lenient treatment in terms of checks by the municipal police. He had told me that these amounts start at 500 euros. I would be able to operate beyond the permitted hours provided for by my license and I would be able to be informed in the event that there would be an inspection by any department of the Municipality or the police. This happened at the beginning of 2023.”
A key person and the urban planner with the expensive watches, is an employee of the Construction Service who allegedly received between 1,000 euros and 2,500 euros per case and who was also an arbitrator. In investigations, 26 watches were found. The circuit even seems to have had an… accounting office. They are the notes revealed by Live News that show the money flows, the payments that were made and the relationships that the members had with each other and “Nancy” at the top of the pyramid.
The Authorities thus found rich evidence since everything was recorded from the circuit. The amounts they collected, how much they were going to pocket from the extortions, their dates and percentages of the split.
Alexandros Papaioannidis, a shopkeeper’s lawyer spoke to Live News. “My client is a shopkeeper who has two large businesses in Attica. The first complaints he made were specific, and they told him that if you don’t give in, “we will shut you down”. My client refused to give the amounts of money that had been requested through third parties on a monthly basis. In fact, we are not talking regarding amounts of 100 and 200 euros, they were asking for a lot of money.”
When asked how they approached his principal, the lawyer described: “The approach was made through a third party and they told him “it would be good to pay some money so that there would be no issues with hours or permits”. As he himself told me, they asked him regarding 2 thousand euros a month.”
Extortionist Ring: Profile and role of the blonde beauty – The bargains, the connections and the high life
The 43-year-old “Nancy” originally from Patras is behind the infamous spiral that extorted shopkeepers, hoteliers and kiosk owners with the gang’s profits exceeding 700,000 euros a year.
The 43-year-old was a director of the criminal organization, ordering, guiding and supervising its other members, in order to achieve the goals and criminal purposes of the organization. This is a well-tuned machine that has been running for at least 3 years. All the members of the spiral faithfully followed the instructions of the 43-year-old, who is described as ruthless and arrogant.
He always spoke in a very pretentious manner, a source tells Live News, adding that he had expensive tastes and always walked around with a lot of cash. “I always have cash, because the people I mix with, when I say this is going to happen, I always want them to pick up the phone,” said 43-year-old “Nancy.”
It is no coincidence that during the physical check that was carried out on her when she was arrested as the alleged “brain” of the ring, 1,200 euros were found in her purse, 500 euros scattered in the bag she was carrying and another 550 euros in an inner pocket. All cash, just as the many thousands of euros found inside her house were also cash.
In a search carried out at her home, the following were found and confiscated:
-The sum of 4,050 euros,
-A banknote counting device
-A pepper spray
-An Apple brand laptop
-An Apple brand tablet (Macbook)
-A printed notification of a health care store with the handwritten note “FAKE”
-25 watches
25 watches were found in the house of the blonde beauty, one of which is a ROLEX brand. She loved the good life and was photographed with her friends on holidays, nights out and travelling.
The big connections
The 43-year-old introduced herself everywhere as a person with… connections everywhere. He had managed to develop a wide network of acquaintances in the business world while also conversing with party officials as Live News reveals today.
PASOK executive: Shall we go a three thousand?
43 years old: Hmm I think two is better here.
PASOK executive: Put a little more, let’s go on vacation in the summer. For one up for one down.
43 years old: Well, I’ll see and tell you. Kisses. Come on bye bye bye.
The case file includes dozens of such conversations of the 43-year-old with businessmen, former party officials, while she allegedly threatened employees with transfer if they did not comply with her orders.
Blackmail ring: Her brother’s role
This particular woman had also tricked other members of her family. It is characteristic that her brother performed the duties of debt collector. In other words, he went to the shopkeepers – victims of the spiral – and received the agreed sums of money.
Afterwards, the two brothers hid the loot in their mother’s house.
“It’s not me (s.s. in the circuit) at all, these are lies. It’s all lies. In the end, you will see how much fun everyone will have,” said the 43-year-old’s mother, who is also accused of being involved in the ring.
“Nancy” and her brother are falsely reported as working for a consulting firm in order to appear insured and have “legitimate” income, when in fact they are self-employed without paying the required taxes on their income outside of framework of the criminal organization.
No one knew exactly what the 43-year-old’s profession was, nor might they justify the lavish life she led. In her meetings she was always dressed up in expensive clothes, expensive watches and jewelry.
Sometimes, “Nancy” herself received the sums of money from the shopkeepers and handed them over to the other members of the organization. She was very careful in her actions and especially in her telephone communications and face-to-face meetings with public officials. He made sure to communicate with them through online applications, while delivering the money, he met them in places that would be difficult for other people and law enforcement to notice.
After a months-long investigation, the circuit was uncovered. The prosecuting authorities seem to have tied the case by describing in every detail the hierarchy, the roles and the action of the criminal organization.
Extortion ring: The criminal past of the 43-year-old
What apparently “burned” them was the 43-year-old’s pen. In fact, two notebooks were found in her house with her handwritten notes with the amounts she received from each shopkeeper she blackmailed.
However, the 43-year-old was not unknown to the authorities. In 2009, she was accused of attempted fraud, pretending to be a broker, while a year later, in 2010, when the country was entering the period of memoranda, she was accused of embezzling more than 120,000 euros as an employee of an insurance company. At the same time, a senior official of the Municipality of Athens is being investigated for possible involvement in the extortion ring, as revealed by Live News.
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