Two Financial Crimes Squad (SDOE) employees, a Finance Ministry employee and an employee in the Bank of Greece were arrested in Athens on Monday over bribery and extortion charges, the Greek police department announced on Tuesday.
According to a statement released on Tuesday, the case involved a 68-year-old accountant, her 74-year-old husband, a former Finance Ministry employee and their 43-year-old son, a Bank of Greece employee, two SDOE employees and a 54-year-old Finance Minister staffer.
The arrests came following a complaint filed by a businessman who alleged that the two SDOE employees had demanded money, through the accountant, in order to conclude a company inspection without imposing heavy fines.
The businessman alleged he was initially asked to pay 60,000 euros, a sum which following negotiations with the accountant, was eventually lowered to 50,000 euros. Had he not paid the amount the gang was blackmailing that they would fine him with 1,000,000 euro during the control procedure of his accounting books.
The businessman is active in the construction sector.
All six were expected to face a prosecutor on Tuesday.
PS I suppose many public servants are still acting boldly due to the ‘soft’ punishment they normally receive when caught – even red-handed. *sigh*
