100 illegal adoptions in Volos – The case of 2014 that shocked the nation

The case with the illegal adoptions of infants that had shocked the Greek society in 2014, some of which were alleged to have taken place in Volos, was revived yesterday at the Mixed Jury Court of Appeal of Larissa.

The main defendant in the case, a Bulgarian national named Alekos or Aliwho allegedly lived in Volos, where according to a police officer, claimed to have made 100 illegal adoptions, was absent from the hearing. The appeal of the convicted Greek woman, who is said to be the woman, who had come in contact with a group of Bulgarians, in order to illegally adopt an infant from the neighboring country, was discussed in the MOE yesterday. The circuit was dismantled by the Security of Trikala in September 2014. The Greek candidate mother-in-law, 53 years old today, was sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in prison, redeemable at 5 euros per day in 36 installments, while in the first instance she was sentenced by the Larissa MOD to nine years in prison, with suspensory effect on appeal .

He was represented by the Athens lawyer Manolis Anastasakis, who stressed that no one testified at the hearing, that he handed over money to his client. It is noted that in the operation of the Police on September 23, 2014, seven members of the organization were arrested, namely four Greeks (the then 45-year-old stepmother, her then 49-year-old partner, 48-year-old notary and 49-year-old lawyer), and three foreigners, Bulgarian nationals. 29 years old, mother of the baby, who would be given for illegal adoption and two more men, aged 45 and 33).

In the first instance, the 49-year-old partner of the stepmother had been acquitted and the notary and the lawyer of Trikala had been acquitted by a panel. They were found guilty of the offenses of unlawful adoption and forming and participating in a criminal organization. Alekos or Ali, 45, who was allegedly responsible for the case, was sentenced at first instance to 12 years in prison and the 33-year-old Bulgarian, who was presented as the biological father of the baby, to 3.5 years in prison. Ali was the only one who was taken to prison, however, yesterday all three convicts were absent in the second degree and so their appeals were rejected, as they remained unsupported and the same sentences remained. It is noted that the case was revealed by the Police, with a woman and a man police officers who had appeared in the circuit as allegedly interested in adopting an infant illegally. The defendants had claimed in the first instance that they were trapped by the Police and also that the only adoption for which money was allegedly given, was not completed.

The police officer’s testimony was revealing: The lawyer who would prepare the “papers” would receive 2,000 euros, the notary 500 euros and the rest would end up in the hands of the mediator, a Bulgarian named “Alekos” or “Ali” who lived in Volos. The prospective foster parents were informed that having a child through Bulgaria costs much more money than the expenses for the “papers” and that the mediator Alekos or Ali would take the lion’s share. “The boy has 12,000 euros and the girl 18,000 euros”, was the offer. The “couple” replied that they wanted a boy and the price was agreed at 10,000 euros. “At some point in the conversation, Ali boasted that in recent years he had given 100 ‘pieces’ to Volos,” the police officer testified. “He mentioned that a friend of his brings his mothers here and they give birth.”

The mediator is also said to have told the couple that “if the baby does not ‘click’ on you in a short time, another could be found”. According to the indictment, Ali was paid 300 euros in pre-marked banknotes, for the first expenses. The remaining money would be given in two installments. The couple would pick up the child, a 20-day-old boy, after first being examined by a pediatrician. The biological mother appeared in the doctor’s office with another Bulgarian, who introduced himself as her husband. After the examination, everyone would go to the notary to complete the process. An internal Eurojust document mentions “at least eight Bulgarian women citizens who registered their babies at various registries in the country, three in Volos and five in Lamia”. The development of the police investigation in Trikala showed that Ali was not unknown to the authorities. He had been irrevocably convicted of mediation in illegal adoption and another case was pending against him. Four Interpol Bulgaria newsletters also reported that he was the central person in the preliminary investigation into similar cases by the Pleven Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

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