Prosecutor charges 23 in multimillion-euro investment scam
An Athens prosecutor on Wednesday charged 23 people in connection with a multimillion-euro international pyramid scheme which defrauded investors at home and abroad.
The suspects include 12 Greek nationals, of whom three are lawyers, two Turkish nationals, a Russian and an Indian. They were charged with participating in a criminal racket, fraud and money laundering.
According to reports, an undisclosed number of civil servants have also been implicated.
Police said the scheme scammed millions of euros from Greek and Ukrainian investors, with the suspects making more than 33 million euros in profits.
The ringleaders, a 48-year-old stockbroker and a 53-year-old with business interests in the Ukraine, were arrested in simultaneous police raids around Attica on Tuesday.
The racket had reportedly been active since its inception in 2005, when the 48-year-old ringleader set up an investment company in the US, while reports say that the suspects and their victims used at least 60 offshore companies.
