The incredible case of a fake lottery ticket scam was brought to public attention recently. A criminal group that engaged in illegal activities for over three years managed to deceive thousands of German citizens through a scam that brought them more than 36 million euros in profits! On Tuesday, the Greek police, in cooperation with the German authorities, arrested two Greeks who are allegedly among the leaders of the criminal group.
As mentioned in the official statement of the Hellenic Police, the Financial Police Unit, in the framework of police and judicial assistance, at the request of the German authorities managed to locate in Attica and specifically in Athens and Vouliagmeni, two members of a criminal group that commited frauds with thousands of victims in Germany, through fake lottery ticket scams.
The illegal activities of the two Greek men, aged 44 and 36, spanned from January 2009 to November 2012, as Greek financial police unit discovered in cooperation with the German Federal Police Office (BKA).
According to the German authorities, the two Greeks were among the leaders of the criminal group, which managed to deceive approximately 360,000 people in Germany, after persuading them to buy fake lottery tickets. With this method, they managed to solicit funds totaling 36,545,119 euros.
On Tuesday morning, in the framework of bilateral cooperation and mutual assistance, on request of the Prosecutor of Krefeld, Germany, searches were conducted in the homes and companies of the arrestees. The police found and seized the following items:
In the house of the 44 year old, in the Athens area:
-A PC, external hard drives and a USB portable data storage device,
-4 Greek banks passbooks
-Greek and foreign business documents and
-6 stamps.
In house of the 36 year old in Vouliagmeni, three sealed envelopes were found, containing various documents.
At the headquarters of two companies of the offenders in Athens, the police found and seized:
-2 Computers,
-3 External hard drives,
-4 USB portable data storage devices USB and a hard drive inside the casing,
-Greek and foreign business documents and
-3 Wooden stamps
The investigation goes on, always in close cooperation with the German authorities in order to complete the procedures in the framework of police and judicial assistance.
