Athens: 14 municipal police officers and administrative employees arrested for extortion

Greek law enforcement has arrested fourteen city hall employees and police officers. They are accused of extorting money from the owners of cafes and restaurants, bars and taverns.

Their annual illegal income, as ieidiseis.gr writes with reference to sources in the city hall, exceeded €700 thousand. As part of the Greek police anti-corruption operation, a total of 14 people have been arrested, 9 of them civil servants. During the search, the following was seized from the accused:

• 439,140 euros,
• Cell phones,
• laptops,
• hard drives, etc.

The Greek Security Forces' Internal Affairs Service found out during its investigation that Those arrested extorted certain amounts of money from the owners of restaurants, cafes, taverns and bars in Athens for failing to carry out inspections. If control was carried out, fines were not issued for violations detected (for the amount established for this purpose).

A case has been opened against those arrested on charges of violating several articles of criminal law.:

• creation of a criminal organization,
• extortion,
• bribing employees,
• violation of official secrets, failure to perform official duties,
• false statements, violations of sports laws, weapons laws, and immigration laws.

The case also involves nine other employees who were not members of the criminal organization but who periodically assisted in its activities..

The investigation revealed that members of the organization were receiving from €6 thousand to €16 thousand per year from restaurants, cafes, taverns and bars, Kiosks were subject to a tax of €1,500Cases of receiving bribes of up to €35,000 for illegal actions or inactions were identified. The money received was distributed among members of the criminal organization. The investigation revealed 47 cases of illegal actions.

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