From victims of fraud in Greece, to the dock for money laundering in Germany

From victims of electronic fraud in Greece… accused of money laundering (money laundering) in Germany, unsuspecting Greeks are found, as it appears that unknown persons have stolen their bank account details, creating digital bank accounts to use in suspicious transactions and fraud, with victims Germans citizens. As part of an investigation by the German Justice, they are now being asked to give explanations to the investigative authorities of Greece, following a request for judicial assistance, even risking arrest.

They claim that they were trapped by the method of interception of personal data (phishing), stressing that they received misleading messages on their mobile phones alerting them to alleged security audits of their financial institutions. Convinced of the alleged checks, according to what they say, they agreed to send their police identification details and a photo, as requested by the unknown senders of these messages. What they could not imagine then was that online fraud would be carried out in their name for a long period of time, without them – as they point out – having absolutely no knowledge.

The case of Thessaloniki

Typical is the case of a woman from Thessaloniki who appears as the beneficiary of a current account in a German direct service (“digital”) bank, based in Berlin, which specializes in managing accounts via smartphones. In this account, as stated in the German prosecuting documents, there ended up money from online purchases of goods that were never delivered to the buyers, but also transfers of amounts from other accounts of the same bank, with the origin of this money being characterized as suspicious.

As revealed by the bank’s internal investigation, these amounts were immediately forwarded to a trading platform, where cryptocurrencies can be traded or withdrawn via debit card. According to the same prosecuting documents, the specific account was blocked, while the digital bank in question addressed – as in all the cases under consideration – the German Financial Intelligence Unit by submitting a report on suspected money laundering.

“Dozens of cases involving Greeks”

There are dozens of cases of Greeks who fell victim to this practice, as estimated by the lawyer Theodoros Karagiannis, who represents some of them. “The criminal procedure started with a request for a European Investigation Order from the competent Prosecutor’s Offices of Germany” he points out, speaking to APE – MPE. In all the cases called by the Investigator, he adds, “our principals had voluntarily sent their details over the Internet after receiving fraudulent messages”. Mentioning indicatively some of the cases he handles, Mr. Karagiannis notes that his principals received an e-mail with a “virtual sender” – a bank in which they held an account and urgently asked them to send their personal information to avoid an attempt to remove the their money from “hackers”. “Indeed, the messages were so believable that only an experienced Internet user could perceive them,” he says.

Regarding the European Investigation Warrant process, Mr. Karagiannis characterizes the law concerning the potential European Arrest Warrant as problematic, since, as he explains, “the relevant provisions are particularly inflexible without leaving the Greek judicial authorities room to investigate the essence of the case and to protect the accused from possible imprisonment, even if they clearly have no criminal responsibility”.

RES-EMP

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