The three arrested will appear on Friday in front of the magistrate to defend themselves against the criminal charges of blackmailing public organizations, companies and banks and embezzling Greek state.

The accused men are Panayiotis Mavrikos, publisher of the newspaper “Acropolis”, and journalists Panagiotis Moussas and Christos Fragou, who were arrested after an executive of Greece’s water utility EYDAP, Amalia Katzou, who had been blackmailed by the men, filed a complaint to the police.

Police taped their conversations which revealed that the arrested men controlled many newspapers and news websites and they intended to coordinate them so as to achieve their political aims.