Bank accounts of former Jumbo executive frozen

Greece's anti-money laundering authority on Monday froze all bank accounts belonging to former executive of Jumbo retailer Evangelos Papaevangelou, until the investigation into alleged illicit payments by Chinese nationals for the acquisition of Greek properties involving a Greek entrepreneur has been completed.

The Greek owner of the Destiny property investment company is accused of having Chinese property buyers pay for purchases using Greek bank card terminals in China.

He has claimed that his firm abides by the law and that the banks are responsible for the illegal transactions.

Authorities are investigating whether these transactions constitute money laundering.

Founded in 2015, Destiny has already sold 152 properties for 40 million euros (with an average value of 263,000 euros per transaction) and has also secured down payments of 20 million euros for apartments that are under construction.