Four of the 19 arrested for the ring that “sold” protection to brothels and clubs, as well as committed fraud against the State, were sent to prison after an investigative process that lasted two days.
Specifically, as enikos.gr has already written, of the 10 who were pardoned on Thursday (16/01), only the alleged Second vice-captain of the ring, while the other 9 were released with the restrictive condition of appearing at the Police Department and monetary guarantees from 1,000 to 5,000 euros.
Accordingly, out of the group of 9 who were taken to the Corruption Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday (15/01), three were temporarily detained, including 37 year old officerthe defendant head of the Organization and the alleged as first vice-captain. The remaining defendants (3 accountants, a close associate and the driver of the alleged leader as well as an employee of a company of the alleged second deputy leader), were released on the restrictive condition of appearing twice a month at the Police Station and cash sureties from 2000 to 5000 euros.
What did the detainees claim in their apologies?
According to information from enikos.gr, the accused before the investigator they denied the degree of involvement attributed to them in the case.
The alleged as head of the Organizationthe so-called “Kritikos”, denied having committed any criminal act. “I am not involved in the operation of brothels or illegal gambling clubs, nor have I ever patronized any shop. What was found in my house does not point to a leader of a criminal organization that controls 60 companies.”
At the same time, and 37-year-old police officer who allegedly gave important information to the chief about movements of her agency denied any involvement in the case.
Among other things, she reportedly claimed that in the video showing her meeting with the alleged leader of the ring in a restaurant, this appointment was made in order to extract information about her service. In support of this, she allegedly cited a recorded call she made minutes after the meeting to a colleague telling him about “important information” she had received.
Regarding the money found in her house, she claimed, according to the same sources, that it belongs to her partner, while regarding the shopping bags, she claimed that they were gifts for her nieces.
The alleged as first deputy leader of the organizationalso denied what was attributed to him. As he is reported to have said, due to the fact that he is best man with the second deputy leader, he had taken over one of his companies that provided security services due to his status as an ex-military.
For the luxury car he was driving, he allegedly said that it belonged to the company, while for the other expenses that appear, he pretends that these are justified by the pension and salary he received.
“As is well known, cases that are covered by publicity are accompanied by a corresponding dose of exaggeration. If we remove the exaggeration that accompanies this particular case you will see that there is nothing” said his lawyer, Spyros Robotis.
Finally, the alleged as Second vice-captain of the ring allegedly claims to be a businessman who owns 5 completely legal companies that do not engage in illegal activities, which do business with other giant companies and have a turnover of millions of euros a year. “I am an economist and married to a successful businesswoman, well-known in secular circles. My supposedly luxurious life is justified by my father’s wealth and income.”
For this particular defendant, as indicative of the luxurious life he led, the case file mentions, among other things, a conversation between two other alleged members of the ring who talk about the huge sums he spent on luxury items for his wife. “… Now, now… we went, we gave an engraving, we did the cologne… because if Louis Vuitton isn’t engraved with her initials, it can’t be. He can’t put it… We gave four thousand for the belt, six hundred euros for the mask, six hundred euros for the blouse, seven thousand for the showcase, four hundred euros for the cologne. I’m telling you roughly, you know, like that… I mean, they flew close to ten thousand… I put seven thousand on you now, just for me…”.
In fact, according to Mega, the alleged B’ deputy leader used 8 different luxury cars.
The so-called now and as “informal accountant” of the Organization allegedly claimed that he provided accounting services to ten to fifteen of the companies mentioned in the case file, while in three of them he was also a shareholder. He also claimed, according to information, that he was delivering on the order of the second deputy leader, cards of banking institutionswhich belonged to third parties, to a building security person in order to carry out cash withdrawals ranging from thirty to forty thousand euros per day. This money, according to the defendant, was collected in the safe in the second deputy chief’s office without him knowing where it ended up afterwards.
The other defendants also deny the charges. Specifically, Mr 27 year old special guard who is listed as an escort of the alleged 1st deputy leader, claimed that all he did was escort him from his house to his office without knowing anything about illegal activities.
For his part, the special guard who appears to have been “collecting” the illegal money from an ATM, claimed that the Organization’s accountant gave him bank cards 3-4 times as part of his work there, which he had to supplement his income of, made withdrawals totaling approximately 10,000 euros without knowing that the money was not legal.
Ignorance of anything illegal he declared and 57-year-old man who acts as a “front man” in companies of the circuit. As he said, he thought that the specific companies were legitimate and that he began to suspect that something was wrong when AADE imposed a fine of 600,000 euros.
Source: www.enikos.gr
