The extortion ring that demanded money for protection with threats had become fear and terror for the shopkeepers in Mykonos. One of their victims describes to SKAI the methods they used to force her to give them large sums of money every month, in order not to harm her family.

The shop owner-victim of extortion said: “The psychological three months now is very heavy. Sleeping in fear, or not having the money to give them, or having to deprive your children of something, is a bit heavy”

And he adds: “They tell you that you have no other solution. When you have children, when you have a house, when you’re on the road. I don’t think any sane person can deal with these people.”

They approached her husband inside their own store in June and initially asked for €5,000 for the entire season. After negotiations, they agreed to drop the amount to 2,500 euros.

According to her: “[Στο σύζυγό μου είπαν] that this is also a job you must understand that you need protection, that all shops have protection, why not you? They came at the end of each month and collected the agreed amount.

How ringleader ‘Tony’ was caught

The authorities were informed of the ring’s activity in Mykonos and the Southern Suburbs by an anonymous informant.

Informant: “Tony has gone down to Mykonos and is taking inflatables to the shops and getting protection.”

The police would impersonate the customers at the extortion stores in order to arrest them as they were about to collect the money.

The shop owner who was a victim of extortion said: “When we saw the people from the extortion department from Athens afterwards, I had served them their coffee too many times. They had come to the shops in the square and were watching the weather. They caught them right away when we were giving the money.”

Two of the ring’s alleged ringleaders called Tony and a 42-year-old man made their way to prison. The defendants are known to the authorities as they have previously been involved in other extortion charges.

The threats did not stop after the arrest of the two perpetrators

The shop owner-victim of extortion testified: “One day after the arrest, a lady took me and told me to go and withdraw the lawsuit and they will bring us the money to the shop”