Their illegal profits exceed -2,700,000- euros – They had a total of 271 vehicles with legitimate traffic that were obtained by stealing registration licenses from “straw people”
Dislocatedfrom the Immigration Management Department of the Directorate of Aliens of Attica, criminal organizationwhich was active in by profession illegal promotion of immigrants from Turkey to Hellaswith the aim of obtaining an illegal financial benefit.
As part of a police operation that took place yesterday, Thursday, April 5, 2023, in Omonia, Ilion and Kato Patisia, five members of the ring were identified and arrested, including the leader. They are two foreigners aged 46 and 28 and three citizens aged 48, 57 and 60.
A case file was filed against them for the -as the case may be- offenses of forming and joining a criminal organization, migrant trafficking, forgery, obtaining a false certificate and money laundering.
The arrested members of the ring were tasked with individual specialized criminal activity that supported the promotion of migrants from Turkey to Greece, ensuring the successful passage of vehicles transporting migrants from the border to Athens.
How did they act?
In particular, in terms of the modus operandi of the organization, it had created a large fleet of vehicles consisting of 271 vehicles with legal traffic, immediately available for the transport of immigrants, while for the transportation of each immigrant they received the sum of 2,000 euros .
The legal circulation of vehicles was achieved as follows:
- the leading member (46 years old) located vehicles, 10-15 years old, of medium displacement and capacity (sedan and SUV type) and appeared as a buyer with a physical presence at the sellers (private individuals or dealers), making the purchase and sale by paying cash,
- after the seller agreed to proceed with the sale, he authorized one of the three members of the organization as the executor of the transfer process,
- at the same time, other members of the organization prepared the necessary identification documents (foreigner’s identity card, residence permit, responsible declarations and authorizations) into “straw man” elements and
- the members, as supposed transfer agents, went to the respective departments of the Transport Directorates and submitted the fake identification documents, deceiving the services and grabbing empty circulations in the details of non-existent persons.
In this way, the creation of a non-existent tax entity was achieved that possessed a number of registration licenses corresponding to vehicles “in motion”, that is, which are neither immobilized nor stolen, so as not to arouse suspicion in the event of an audit.
The debts arising from the traffic taxes of the organization’s vehicles were not settled, given that they corresponded to fictitious VAT numbers, while for the year 2023 the total amount due amounted to 112,950 euros.
Also, in some cases, the vehicles used to traffic migrants were sold at twice the price to other traffic circles, as “clean”, while the total profits from the sales exceed the amount of 2,700,000 euros.
In total, as part of police operations in Northern Greece, 44 cars were seized that were used to smuggle at least 190 migrants from Turkey to Greece.
The criminal organization, with the aim of attracting young migrants under promotion, posted on a social network video material with snapshots during the progress of the traffic using their vehicles.
What did the investigations find?
From the searches carried out in three shops (transfer processing offices, etc.) and in a house, where a complete workshop for the preparation of forged documents was found, in total the following were found and seized, among others:
- 19 identity cards,
- 7 fake European Union citizen registration certificates,
- 41 fake EU citizen certificate forms under preparation,
- 2 fake residence permits,
- 2 fake foreign driving licenses,
- a number of false supporting documents and responsible statements,
- 3 fake round stamps,
- 2 stamps with employee details,
- 6 mobile phones,
- laptop,
- 650 euros and
- 6 vehicles
The arrested persons, with the case filed against them, were taken to the competent prosecuting authority.
Source: Skai
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