A 53-year-old woman, who was sentenced to a total of 9 years and 5 months in prison, is being sent to prison, by decision of the Three-Member Court of Criminal Appeals of Thessaloniki, as she was found guilty of fraud which she was accused of perpetrating at the expense of dozens of unsuspecting citizens, pretending various professional qualities, such as those of a lawyer, the high-ranking official of the SDOE, even the future prosecutor.

According to the indictment, with the alleged qualities, she undertook to carry out various legal acts on behalf of her victims or to include them in subsidized programs of the NSRF.

In total, he is accused of embezzling the amount of 283,400 euros between 2007 and 2021, in various areas of Northern Greece.

The 53-year-old was arrested in the summer of 2021, following a complaint by a woman from whom she took more than 100,000 euros. After a police operation, banknotes were found, with which he was arrested on his own charge.

Since the publication of her identity information and photos, other victims began to come to the prosecuting authorities who denounced her actions.

“He fed hares with petrels”

“An acquaintance of mine introduced her to me. He appeared as a lawyer and inspired me with what he said,” testified in court a breeder who addressed the 53-year-old because he had a debt to the Tax Office.

He stated that he deposited about 5,000 euros into her bank account, but without the defendant settling his debt, as she had promised him.

“She was feeding rabbits with petrels,” another complainant said about the 53-year-old woman who approached the woman in order to undertake some legal actions on his behalf regarding the death of his brother. Another victim testified that he trusted her to get his business into the NSRF program by paying a total of €3000 and the response he received before handing over his file to her was “this is bread, butter, tomato and nothing”.». Most of the victims examined by the court testified that the 53-year-old was citing the pandemic to justify their cases not progressing.

“I didn’t fool anyone”

The defendant – who claimed, among other things, that she was awarded an honorary position by the SDOE for allegedly contributing to the disclosure of a car smuggling case – denied the charges in her apology.

She pointed out that her professional status is that of a “tax specialist” and with this she undertook to process the cases assigned to her by the complainants. “I didn’t fool anyone, they lie that I was posing as a lawyer“, he said among other things.

The court found her guilty of continuous fraud (perpetrated and attempted), as well as of impersonating a lawyer, without recognizing any mitigating circumstances.

It was decided not to suspend the execution of the sentence, as a result of which he will be sent to prison.

By the same decision, her 71-year-old husband was convicted as an accomplice in the act of fraud and sentenced to 2 years in prison, with a 3-year suspension (with recognition of mitigation).

He was accused of accompanying his wife and being the owner of the bank account where the victims deposited the money.