The two 64-year-old engineers who were arrested in Thessaloniki accused of fraud of 2 million euros with victims of businessmen and freelancers, who were promised their inclusion in development programs, have been pardoned. With the agreement of the interrogator and the prosecutor, the first was deemed a temporary prisoner and went to prison, while the second was released with restrictive conditions and a cash guarantee of 5000 euros.

The man who was remanded in custody – and reportedly has previous fraud convictions – reportedly apologized for collecting some sums of money from the concerned client-victims in order to “run” the processes associated with joining the schemes. He appears to have claimed that these were legitimate fees and that the approval procedures for the subsidized programs were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic that intervened in previous years.

On the other hand, the other defendant (surveyor) denied the accusations, stressing that he never came into contact with the victims, nor did he collect any money. According to what became known, he claimed that he himself was a victim of his co-accused.

According to the case file, among the 13 victims included in the case file are owners of shops (e.g. car repair shops, confectionery shops, etc.), while their alleged activity goes back to 2013. For involvement in the same case, the details of a of their 48-year-old accomplice who is wanted.