A related complaint was filed and a thorough investigation revealed activity of a criminal organization in this area, while in a police operation carried out on the morning of Saturday, December 16, 2023, 3 members of the organization were identified and arrested.
Against them, as well as against other members, of which 4 have been identified, a criminal case was filed for criminal organization, fraud, forgery after use, usurpation of a false certificate, by complicity, committed and attempted, of which the intended property benefit exceeds the amount of 120,000 euros, per se, money laundering and illegal processing of personal data.
In particular, according to the Police, the investigation revealed that the defendants, at least since July 2023, had set up a criminal organization and falsely introduced themselves either as proxies or as mediators of land-property owners, or even presented themselves as owners, using fake identity cards and without the knowledge of the real owners, they persuaded their victims to proceed with the gathering of supporting documents for the drawing up of a contract of sale before a notary, with the purpose of the virtual transfer of real estate, for which they required an advance agreement, a preliminary agreement and a final contract.
In fact, as pointed out by the Police, in order to achieve their goal, the members of the organization did not hesitate to even change personal codes, through the competent services, violating personal data and stealing necessary documents and certificates, while also proceeding to corresponding partial payments of the price, either in cash, or in checks, or by transfer to their own bank accounts, using the financial system.
In this way, between October and November 2023, they defrauded a company, which is active in the purchase and exploitation of real estate and which expressed a intention to purchase 3 neighboring plots of land in Elliniko Attica. The company forwarded an amount of 650,000 euros, however, the fraud was noticed when during a research conducted was identified the true owner of the property as well as that two of the three plots had already been sold a few days ago.
As noted by Hellenic Police, the members of the organization had already cashed checks in the amount of 425,000 euros, while the total potential financial loss, if they continued this particular fraud, would have reached to 5,650,000 euros, an amount which corresponds to the commercial value of the land plot on sale.
