To employees of the Financial Crime Unit, an account of the Bank of Greece and another of the Ministry of Finance were arrested by Police Internal Affairs for blackmailing a construction businessman. The individuals asked for money in order to “close” their investigation into his company, which would have otherwise had to pay a million euro in fines.

These perpetrators are a 68 year old accountant, her 74 year old husband, a retired accountant of the Ministry of Finance, their 43 year old son, who is an employee in the Bank of Greece, and two Financial Crime Unit officials (a 52 year old and a 44 year old), as well as another 54 year old Finance Ministry employee.

The businessman had filed a formal complaint to police, whereby the two Financial Crime Unit individuals were blackmailing him through his 68 year old accountant in order to close the case on his business. Specifically, in a meeting in his accountant’s office, with her husband and son present, the illegal request of the FCU members was stated: Pay 60,000 euro, which was eventually bargained down to 50,000.

In a coordinated police operation yesterday in Attica, the 43 year old account, who received the 50,000 euro was arrested, following his mother and her husband, as well as the other three perpetrators involved in the crime.