The corruption case that is shaking Rhodes seems to have deeper roots, with new complaints emerging about the way the network operated within the island’s Urban Planning Department. A businessman, who found himself in the authorities’ sights, complains to protothema.gr that he was imposed an exorbitant and unjustified fine, which could then be… erased for a fee.

“They imposed a 30,000-euro fine, then asked for 5,000 euros to erase it”

The businessman describes the trap set by the Urban Planning employees, who, instead of correctly calculating the violation, made a completely arbitrary estimate. “The person who imposed the fine, instead of measuring the actual area—which was just 2 square meters and would correspond to a 4,000-euro fine—recorded the height as 12.5 meters. This resulted in me being imposed a huge amount, 30,000 euros,” he states.

However, what followed was even more provocative. “A few days later, someone contacted my lawyer and clearly said that the fine could be erased, as long as I paid 5,000 euros. It was a blatant extortion,” reveals the businessman, confirming that the urban planners exploited their position to extract money from citizens and entrepreneurs.

The female engineer and her role in the network

A key figure in the corruption network is said to have been a female engineer working at a municipal company in Rhodes, who is among the seven individuals arrested. According to reports, this employee acted as an intermediary in illegal transactions, forwarding files and facilitating “special services” for citizens, for a fee.

Sources report that the engineer had close ties with senior Urban Planning officials and was directly involved in cases where employees demanded “fees” for reducing or erasing fines. In one of the recorded conversations, she is heard referring to “bureaucratic obstacles” that could be easily overcome, as long as there was the right financial “facilitation.”

The luxurious lives of those involved and the “fees”

This case is only the tip of the iceberg, as the investigation revealed that the network had been operating for years, amassing huge amounts of money. Urban planners demanded “facilitations” ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 euros to reduce or erase fines, approve illegal permits, or bypass procedures that, under normal circumstances, would take months to complete.

Investigations at the homes of the arrested individuals uncovered large sums of money, gold coins, expensive watches, and luxury items that cannot be justified by their salaries.

The arrests of the seven individuals, including five Urban Planning employees and two private engineers, are expected to lead to further revelations about the extent of corruption in the public administration.