THE Sub-Directorate for the Protection of Property Rights, Cultural Heritage and Environment of the Attica Security Directorateproceeded to investigate a criminal fraud against a company, under the pretext of buying and selling a particularly valuable property in Elliniko Attica.

A related complaint was filed, the investigation of which revealed the activity of a criminal organization in this area, while in a police operation carried out on the morning of Saturday, December 16, 2023, 3 members of the organization were identified and arrested. Against them, as well as against other members, of which 4 have been identified, a criminal case was filed for criminal organization, fraud, forgery after use, usurpation of a false certificate, by complicity, committed and attempted, of which the intended property benefit exceeds the amount of 120,000 euros, per se, money laundering and illegal processing of personal data.

In particular, according to Policethe investigation revealed that the defendants, at least since July 2023, had united among themselves and set up a criminal organization with an operational structure and continuous action, for the purpose of committing the criminal acts of fraud and forgery.

In particular, the members of the organization, by order of the leader member, falsely introduced themselves either as proxies or as mediators of owners of plots of land-property, or even presented themselves as their owners, using fake identity cards and without the knowledge of the real owners, they persuaded the victims them to proceed with the gathering of supporting documents for the drawing up of a contract of sale before a notary public, for the purpose of the virtual transfer of real estate, for which they required an advance agreement, a preliminary agreement and a final contract.

In fact, as pointed out by the Police, in order to achieve their goal, the members of the organization did not hesitate to even change personal codes, through the competent services, violating personal data and stealing necessary documents and certificates, while also proceeding to corresponding partial payments of the price, either in cash, or in checks, or by transfer to their own bank accounts, using the financial system.

In this way, space October-November 2023 they defrauded a company, which is active in the purchase and exploitation of real estate and which expressed a desire to purchase 3 adjacent plots of land in Elliniko Attica. The company in question advanced an amount of 650,000 euros, however, the fraud was noticed when during a survey the real owner of the property was identified as well as that two of the three plots had already been sold a few days ago.

From the body searches and the searches carried out in the homes of the arrested members of the organization, the following were found and confiscated:

• fake identity card used to sign the pre-contract,

• 43,500 euros,

• number of round seals of various administrative authorities and

• 5 mobile phones.

As noted by ELAS, the members of the organization had already cashed checks in the amount of 425,000 euros, while the total threatened financial loss, if they continued this particular fraud, amounts to 5,650,000 euros, an amount which corresponds to the commercial value of the item under sale plot of land.

In fact, according to ELAS, the arrest of the members of the organization during their meeting for the future purchase and sale of the already pre-sold plot to a new prospective buyer, demonstrates their intention to continue their criminal activity to defraud even more natural or legal persons , in order to maximize their illegal profit.

Those arrested were taken to the competent prosecuting authority, while the investigation to verify their involvement in other cases continues.