A 47-year-old Bulgarian man, who acted as a “collector” of money in telephone scams, was arrested at the Promachonas border station on the night of Tuesday, January 7, following methodical actions by the Ioannina Crime Investigation and Detection Subdivision. He is charged with being a member of a gang and repeatedly committing fraud.

The arrested individual, who according to the police statement played the role of a “collector” in phone scams, had recently extorted 16,200 euros from two elderly people in Ioannina by pretending that their relatives were being held for causing severe injury in a car accident.

According to the police investigation, the foreigner was part of a gang organized for the systematic execution of telephone scams.

Specifically, gang members would make surprise phone calls, mostly to elderly people, impersonating police officers, and demanding large sums of money to prevent the prosecution of a close relative, due to a supposed injury caused in a traffic accident. The arrested individual would then collect the money from the victims’ homes.

In this manner, the gang managed to deceive an 84-year-old woman and an 81-year-old man on January 5 and 7, respectively, and extorted a total of 16,200 euros.

The Ioannina Crime Investigation and Detection Subdivision successfully identified the vehicle used by the perpetrator. He was eventually spotted driving it by officers from the Sidirokastro Police Department yesterday afternoon at the Promachonas border crossing, attempting to leave Greece via the Greek-Bulgarian border.

The 47-year-old was brought to the Ioannina Crime Investigation and Detection Subdivision, where he was recognized by the victims and arrested. In his possession and in the car’s glove compartment, a total of 10,300 euros was found and seized.

The arrested individual will be taken to the Ioannina Prosecutor’s Office, and the investigation by the Ioannina Crime Investigation and Detection Subdivision is ongoing to uncover the identities of his accomplices and any possible involvement in similar cases.