They have been doing this for eight (!) Years. They earned over 5 million (!) Euros. The first details about arrest of a criminal group, engaged in the issuance of forged documents for Albanian criminals and illegal registration of residence permits in Greece.
According to information that became the property of newsit.gr, this criminal organization began its activities on April 26, 2013. And yesterday (11/30/2021) it was liquidated as a result of the operation of the Internal Investigation Department of the Greek Police and numerous arrests, including a high-ranking police officer. So far, 600,000 euros have been found on the hands of those arrested, and in total, according to the investigation, they have earned at least 5 million euros!
Citizen Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos has already been informed of this case, one of the most serious, which has been dealt with by the Internal Investigation Service for many years, after talking for 2.5 hours with the commander of the Anti-Corruption unit, Lieutenant General Elias Kosivakis.
The scheme involved the issuance of identity cards and passports for Greek citizens. The criminals changed their Albanian documents and, for a fee, became Greeks. For each fake identity card, passport or any other document, the “buyer” paid between 30,000 and 50,000 euros.
According to the ongoing investigation, the total financial benefit of the criminal organization is estimated at at least five million euros.
Identity cards, passports, VAT and AMKA
The criminal organization consisted mainly of Greek immigrants from the former USSR, police officers and other civil servants. She has built a network of employees and has been actively involved in the issuance of (usually) genuine Greek identity cards, Greek passports and driver’s licenses to foreign nationals with a serious criminal record.
At the same time, members of the criminal network contributed to the illegal stay of foreign citizens in the country by issuing new TIN and AMKA to them, thereby misleading the competent state bodies and services. Thus, “clients” with a serious criminal record could not be found by the police and arrested. As a result, convicted criminals could leave Greece for other EU countries using forged documents, where some of them were detained.
With its structure and hierarchy
The behavior of the criminal organization was hierarchically structured, multilevel and by no means random, with different and interrelated roles of its members. Moreover, each member obeyed the instructions of the “leader”, the “brain” of the organization. No member of the scheme could make decisions independently, act alone, if he did not inform other members of the organization about it.
Fake identity cards and passports of “Greek” citizens were issued mainly to foreign citizens, but also to Greeks who wanted to change their details. These IDs were issued either using false data from non-existent persons, or using data from expatriates who permanently resided abroad and completely ignored the actions of the organization, or using data from existing Greeks, using their real identity as a result of illegal acquisition of Greek citizenship.
Thus, convicted clients of the network could freely move around Greece, they could hide their convictions and leave Greece as its citizens in order to obtain a driver’s license, create companies, sign contracts and agreements.
Arrested on the territory of the Athenian prosecutor’s office. Photo edition zougla.gr Harris Gikas
Arrests
On the last day of autumn, November 30, 2021, after months of systematic investigation by the Internal Security Service, 20 people were detained during operations carried out in the morning and afternoon, including:
nine active police officers (including one high-ranking officer); civil servant of the Ministry of Citizens’ Protection; registry office registrar (ληξιαρχείου Ο.Τ.Α); lawyer; eight citizens.
In total, according to the investigation, 34 police officers were involved in the criminal organization. When the officers of the internal investigation department entered the office of the head of the investigative unit, they were shocked not only by what they found, but mainly by the behavior of the officer.
He refused to cooperate (which is understandable) and also refused to open the safe that was in his office in an attempt to counteract “anti-corruption”. He reportedly had to be handcuffed to conduct a search! I also had to call a locksmith to open the safe, in which 320,000 euros were found! According to the information, the officer claimed that the money belonged to a relative and he kept it there for security purposes.
This is not the only money confiscated from the members of the criminal organization. According to sources in the police, at the moment, about 600,000 euros (including 320,000 from the safe) have been found with the policemen involved.
Citizen Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos asked the commander and chiefs of the Internal Investigation Service to continue the investigation and fully clarify the case so that those responsible could be brought to justice.
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