120,000 euros as bribe to disburse a grant

Two employees of the ministry of Development, serving in the department of Private Investments, were arrested because they demanded 120,000 euros to forward the documentation concerning a grant for an investment activity of a hotel unit owner in Nafplion. Officers found in their homes about 145,000 euros, bank passbooks, bank receipts and documents.

The two men are Konstantinos Liakos, of Ilias and Kalliopi, born 19/10/1951 in Piraeus and residing in Kallipoli, Piraeus, and Konstantinos Kazazakis, of Ioannis and Maria, born 17/07/1951 in Piraeus and residing in Korydallos, Attica.

Their arrest was carried out by officers of the Sub-Directorate of Organized Crime and Trafficking of the Attica Division, at noon on Monday at the Metro station in Kerameikos, where the envelope with the marked notes was delivered by the investor to one of the employees.

The background

It all started when the hotel unit co-owner in Nafplio complained that while a grant of approximately 4.7 million euros was approved for a relevant investment in the company he owns with his brother in the prefecture of Argolis, the two officers continued to demand the required amount of 120,000 euros in order to forward the documentation of the grant.

The appointment for the delivery of the money, which had been marked, was made for Monday noon at the Metro station in Kerameikos. Konstantinos Liakos was the first to appear and having received the amount of 120,000 euros, was arrested. After a while, Konstantinos Kazazakis appeared at the meeting point and was arrested as well. A police search in the offices of the two people arrested at the ministry of Development brought to light the records of the case of the hotel grant and a manuscript of the completion rapporteur.

 

Officers found the following in the arrestees' homes:

- 70,000 euros, passbooks of various banks and banking receipts were found in Konstantinos Liakos’ house

- 85,000 euros, bank books and a hunting rifle were found at Konstantinos Kazakakis’ home

 

According to the police, "their identity was publicized by order of the prosecutor - because of the maximum moral demerits of their actions as civil servants - in order to establish the possible occurrence of other such acts."