Yesterday, the investigating judge and prosecutor decided to extend the pretrial detention of the 75-year-old gynecologist and owner of the fertility center in Chania.

The decision was made following the gynecologist’s testimony regarding a second case file, which pertains to the sale of genetic material.

The extension of the doctor’s temporary detention for another six months comes just days before his expected release, as he was approaching the 18-month limit for pretrial detention.

For the same case, authorities had arrested two more gynecologists last week. However, after their testimonies, they were released.

Meanwhile, in the coming 24 hours, the 46-year-old embryologist is also expected to testify before the investigating judge and prosecutor regarding the second case file. It is worth noting that he, too, remains in temporary detention.

More Than 250 Women Defrauded

According to the official police announcement, the case involves the formation of a criminal organization whose members defrauded 274 women in 529 different instances. They falsely claimed to have performed embryo transfers (which never actually took place) and/or that they had cryopreserved genetic material in a cryobank, when in reality, no such genetic material ever existed. They even issued false certifications to the patients.

Additionally, the same announcement states that authorities uncovered 75 cases involving 11 victims of human trafficking through the illegal trade of genetic material, including cells and tissues (eggs and sperm), without the donors’ or recipients’ knowledge.

Moreover, authorities discovered systematic brokering activities related to the recruitment of egg donors, as well as violations of laws governing egg donation. Specifically, handwritten records revealed 173 egg donors who underwent 333 different egg retrieval procedures, with their eggs distributed to 1,226 different recipients. However, the majority of these donors were not registered in the National Donor Registry. As of August 9, 2023, when the police operation took place, the fertility center had only registered 63 genetic material donors.

In total, 18 individuals have been charged in connection with the case.