The ELAS criminal organization was dismantled, whose members committed frauds, thefts, robberies against the elderly in various regions of the country, specifically in Attica, Thessaloniki, Kalamata, Arta, Corinth, Chalkida, Pyrgos, Patras, Heraklion of Crete and Aigio.

In order to dismantle the criminal organization, a large-scale police operation was carried out on Thursday morning (13/7), in the presence of representatives of the judicial authority.

During the operation, 12 members of the organization were arrested in Zephyri and Acharnes and 4 of them in Thessaloniki, while the case file still includes 11 members whose details have been identified.

A case file was filed against them for – as the case may be – management and membership in a criminal organization, provision of mobile devices for fraud, distinguished thefts and joint robberies, committed and attempted, with a total benefit of more than 120,000 euros, forgery, as well as for violating gun laws.

From the investigation of the case, it emerged that the members of the criminal organization had formed and joined it, having sustained and multi-year activity, professionally and continuously committing frauds and thefts, also committed in attempted and in some cases robberies, at the expense of elderly people .

According to ELAS, these are people who are connected to each other by family and friendly ties, without exercising any professional activity, being the majority of them unemployed, while the leading and key executives have been employed many times in the past for the same crimes.

Regarding the mode of action (modus operandi), the members of the gang approached elderly people on the street, mainly women, they presented themselves mainly as accountants but also as friendly persons or emissaries of their relatives and persuaded them to hand over sums of money or jewelry, which as the case may be they picked up from their homes or from bank branches, where they were taken.

In more detail, they presented themselves as emissaries of a relative and claimed that in order to resolve a financial case or to receive a large sum of money as compensation or as a refund from the tax office, they would first have to hand over some amount of money to them, usually as a fee.

In order to be believed, they had a well-groomed appearance and a particularly polite demeanor, while in order to avoid any doubt, they pretended to be talking on the phone with a familiar face of the victim. In fact, in some cases they gave the phone to the victim, in order to talk to his supposed relative, whose role was assumed by one of the accomplices.

Also, with various pretexts, they convinced their victims not to use their mobile phone, thus excluding the possibility of a familiar person calling them, or they even removed it from their possession in order to ensure the necessary escape time, before their relatives or the Authorities were notified.

In several cases, they asked to show them gold and jewelry under the pretext of photographing them, however, they then removed their victims from the area, distracted them and without being noticed removed the gold.

In case the victims expressed doubts or were cautious, the members of the criminal organization did not hesitate to use physical violence against them.

As far as the means they used were concerned, they were privately owned vehicles, which were registered in the data of other persons, as well as rented vehicles, so that their users were not directly connected to the main members of the organization.

As part of the investigations carried out in 14 houses and 4 pawnshops in Athens and Thessaloniki, among others, the following were found and confiscated:

•44,880 euros,

•lots of gold jewelry and watches,

•15 cars,

•2 shotguns,

•revolver,

•74 cartridges,

•mobile phones and SIM cards and

•numerous items of clothing related to the thefts and various character-altering items (wigs, braids, hats).

From the investigation so far, it appears that the members of the criminal organization since at least the middle of 2021 have committed at least 113 criminal acts, namely 52 cases of fraud, 16 cases of theft, 1 case of robbery, 16 cases of fraud and theft, 1 case of fraud and robbery , 1 case of attempted fraud and theft and 26 cases of attempted fraud, with their loot exceeding the amount of 1,360,000 Euros.

The arrested persons were taken to the competent prosecuting authority, while the preliminary investigation work to ascertain the full extent of their criminal activity continues