A 47-year-old woman from Bulgaria, who sat on the bench of the Three-member Criminal Appeal Court of Thessaloniki, returned to prison after being sentenced to 8 years in prison for involvement in telephone scams, with victims – mainly – elderly people and the pretext of injuring their relatives in alleged traffic accidents.

Acting at the behest of her unknown accomplices who communicated by phone with the victims and had the role of collecting money and jewelry that were supposed to be intended for the performance of expensive surgeries, the 47-year-old was found guilty of eight counts of fraud and an additional two of attempted fraud, with a total loot of around at 280,000 euros. In the vast majority of them, the frauds were committed during the period of 2019, in Thessaloniki. However, her involvement was revealed four years later after an attempted fraud, when she confessed to her actions and was jailed.

Apologizing in court, the accused accepted her actions, but declared ignorance of the fraud. She said she believed she was collecting cash and valuables which – she said – corresponded to amounts the sufferers had borrowed from moneylenders in her home country, gambling in casinos in the neighboring country. According to her claims, she transported the cash and valuables to Bulgaria where she handed them over to the “instigators” of the fraud. From the research so far it has not been possible to identify them.

Her claims did not convince the judges who found her guilty without a finding of mitigation.