THE Security Forces Internal Affairs Service proceeded to dismantle two criminal organizations, whose members, through the issuance of false documents as well as tax and insurance information, facilitated the illegal residence of foreigners in Greece, causing financial damage to the Greek State, while they were also active in illegal transfers of abandoned properties, without clear ownership status.

In order to dismantle the organizations, a coordinated police operation was carried out on Thursday morning (11/3), in the context of which a total of 12 people were arrested, including the 2 main oneswhile a case file was filed against 9 more members, whose details have been identified.

A case file was filed against them – as the case may be – for criminal organization, forgery, obtaining a false certificate, false medical certification, bribery and bribery of an employee, breach of duty, as well as for violation of legislation on foreigners, weapons and money laundering .

According to THE GREEK POLICEthere was a complaint about a person, who, in collaboration with a public official, issues irregular documents for public use against sums of money.

The investigation revealed the existence of two operationally structured criminal organizations, in which a common member had an active role.

In particular, the first criminal organization has been operating since at least June 2022, with the participation of private individuals as well as public service employees (Doctors of Public Hospitals, D.O.Y., E.F.K.A. etc.). Its members, for a fee, were active throughout the territory in issuing false documents, which they then used to issue tax and insurance details and bank accounts, in order to facilitate the illegal stay of foreigners in Greece

They had distinct roles and specific modus operandi:

*66-year-old, as a senior member, falsely presented herself as an accountant, while submitting online applications for residence permits to foreigners who did not meet the conditions. He used as his headquarters a photocopy center owned by a 57-year-old woman, a member of the organization, while he declared untrue incidents through forged documents and submitted the relevant applications without the necessary supporting documents. In this way, he managed to issue a temporary certificate of legal residence (blue certificate) and then directly issued tax and insurance information (A.F.M., A.M.K.A. etc.) for the foreigners, causing losses the Greek government, since they enjoyed financial benefits and insurance capacity,

*60-year-old, who was the other leading member and operational arm, as well as a member of the second criminal organization, dealt directly with the foreigners or their middlemen. He had undertaken the promotion of the organization’s services, negotiated the prices and collected the fees,

*Two employees of public bodies, 62 years old, provided immediate assistance, issuing the necessary documents and certificates on behalf of the organization in a short period of time, for a fee,

*66-year-old, public hospital doctor, granted the necessary medical certificates for previous years, for a monetary fee, without their presence in person,

*62-year-old, 59-year-old and 49-year-old, “intermediaries” of the organization, attracted the interested foreigners, collected and filtered the requests and collected the fees, getting their commission, while in consultation with the leading members they negotiated the prices.

In order to achieve their goal, the members of the organization entered into irregular employment contracts with virtual employers themselves as well as companies managed by another identified member, through which, in fact, they legitimized their income. In addition, they also entered into sham marriages, for the illegal legalization of foreigners.

In fact, the 60-year-old – common member of the organizations, who had undertaken the expansion of the organization’s criminal activity, had developed a clientele within the prisons as well.

To avoid being identified, they took special precautions by seeking live meetings and regularly changing telephone connections registered to non-existent persons (“straw men”).

The cost list of the services provided by the organization emerged as follows:

* 4,000 – 5,000 euros, for the establishment of a “virtual” company,

* 3,500 – 4,000 euros, for issuing a residence permit to a foreigner who does not meet the conditions,

* 2,000 euros, for a “virtual” wedding,

* 500 euros, for drawing up an untrue declaration of hospitality for a foreigner,

* 500 euros, for submitting an application for the granting of a license in the “DEPENDENT WORK” category,

* 300 – 400 euros, for providing a false doctor’s certificate for previous years,

* 250-300 euros, for “virtual” recruitment to an employer,

* 230 – 250 euros, complete package for issuing tax and insurance information (A.F.M., A.M.K.A., A.M.A.),

* 150 euros, for issuance of A.F.M. and key number and

* 100 euros, for A.M.A. issue.

As pointed out by the Police, the organization obtained approximately 1,000,000 euros from its illegal activity, while from the investigations so far, at least 185 cases of foreign clients have been identified.

In the second criminal organization, its members, at least since September 2023, have been carrying out illegal transfers of properties that were abandoned, without a clear ownership status or whose owners had disappeared.

To achieve this goal, a 68-year-old, member of the organization, had undertaken the search for houses in areas of Attica. He would then make frequent inspections to see if the houses he found were occupied and put new locks and chains on the doors to secure them. In case he found uninhabited houses, he entered and removed objects and valuables, while looking for anything related (e.g. documents) to the ownership status of the houses.

The 68-year-old was looking for information about the owners and contacting them to find out if the houses are occupied or used by someone else. In case the owner was not known, a member of the organization (60 years old – also a member of the first organization) who presented himself as a lawyer, searched and collected the real estate documents through the competent mortgage office and land registry, in order to obtain information about the ownership status.

If he made sure that the property was unoccupied, he proceeded to draw up false supporting documents and concessions in order to falsely appear that the respective owner had granted the property to him or another member for indefinite use.

Then, he would take the necessary actions to acquire ownership of the property, in order to illegally appropriate it, while a 62-year-old, member of the organization, would find a competent engineer to confirm the normality of the property’s condition, so that its transfer could then take place.

Finally, after collecting the necessary documents for the property, they negotiated its sale price with prospective buyers, who were sought out and secured by a 52-year-old member of the organization, while he handled the transfer himself.

As it turned out, in at least 3 cases of real estate, in Nea Smyrni, Psychiko and Papagou, the criminal organization had carried out all the necessary procedures in order to sell the real estate to prospective buyers.

In searches carried out in houses, vehicles, as well as in the possession of the perpetrators, the following were found and confiscated:

* number of fake authorizations – responsible declarations,

* stamp with the imprint “The authenticity of the signature is verified”,

* date stamp,

* round stamp of Municipality,

* stamp certifying the original signature of the Municipality,

* a number of documents concerning foreigners (VAT return certificates, AMKA certificates – Responsible declarations, proof of submitting a residence permit application for humanitarian reasons, proof of submitting a residence permit application for dependent work, etc.),

* number of travel documents of foreign nationals (originals and photocopies),

* number of Decentralized Administration decisions,

* a number of fake documents related to real estate (private agreements, concessions, residential leases, horizontal property purchase and sale documents, etc.),

* a number of medical opinions concerning foreign nationals,

* a number of documents and company seals,

* number of electronic bills,

* number of proofs of money transfer,

* the sum of 32,035 euros,

* a number of digital evidence (telephone devices, tablets, computers, usb storage devices),

* multitude of handwritten notes and

* double-barreled shotgun, for which there was no possession permit.

Those arrested were taken to the competent prosecuting authority.