She pretended to be the director of the SDOE and, invoking “high” connections, she promised, with compensation, appointments to the Tax Office. This is a 55-year-old woman, who was sentenced to 6 years in prison by the Three-member Court of Criminal Appeal of Thessaloniki. After her conviction she was sent to prison, as her appeal was decided to have no staying power in the execution of the sentence.

She was found guilty of serial fraud on 18 occasions during 2020-21. The amount of the fraud, according to the indictment, was determined at 184,000 euros.

Locating her victims through chance acquaintances and by “luring” the alleged appointment, the 55-year-old demanded various sums of money for procedural costs and personal remuneration. In addition to those directly interested – many of them unemployed without the formal qualifications for the position he was “applying” – he also approached their parents, while in a single case he allegedly extorted 60,000 euros from a victim.

The case was revealed when an interested party who paid the 55-year-old handsomely, found that his case was not progressing, so he contacted the police. Other complaints followed, resulting in the 55-year-old being charged and remanded in custody after her confession to the investigator.

One by one the victims testified in court describing their personal adventure. Typical was the case of a former employee at a funeral home who was convinced by the words of the accused. She apologized to the court that she was asking for loans because of personal problems she was facing and that in some cases she returned the money.