One of the men who was allegedly involved in a scam network that gained access to the e-banking of unsuspecting people and withdrew large sums of money from their bank accounts, was finally released on Tuesday after his testimony to investigators in Heraklion.
This is about the Cretan who, as Nea Kriri reported, was arrested in Heraklion by virtue of an arrest warrant that had been issued against him.
In the meantime, according to sources, another arrested person was brought to the Courthouse of Heraklion, who is allegedly involved in the highly publicised case. This is a 37-year-old Pakistani, who allegedly had an important role in the controversial case.
The foreign businessman, who has been living in Crete for several years, requested and received a deadline to testify by Thursday. Until then he is being held.
With reference to the Cretan defendant, the authorities say that he went to a telecommunications store in Heraklion on two occasions to replace a SIM card for a telephone connection that did not belong to him.
After his plea, the Cretan defendant was released with restrictive conditions. In particular, he was banned from leaving the country.
He must appear once a month at the local police of his area. In addition, he was ordered to pay a bond of 2,000 euros.
Reputable businessman
Regarding the arrested Pakistani, he is said to be a well-respected person in the local community who had developed businesses in Heraklion.
The arrested person was brought before the investigating officer yesterday accompanied by his lawyers, Mr. Angelos Zervos and Mr. Eleftherios Kartsonas. The accused requested and received a deadline, in order to testify, for noon on Thursday. Until then he will be held in detention.
The Pakistani is charged, among other things, with "criminal organisation" for continuous forgery with the total benefit exceeding 120,000 euros, for continuous computer fraud with the damage caused exceeding 120,000 euros, as well as for money laundering.
In his statements, Kartsonas described the accusations against his client as "serious", adding that the defence lawyers will study the case file, as well as their intention to "contribute to the emergence of the essential truth".
It is worth noting that, according to information, the Pakistani's wife, who is also a foreigner and who is currently in her homeland, is allegedly involved in the case. According to the same information, the act of complicity in the forgery is attributed to the woman of Bulgarian nationality.
The crime group allegedly gained access to the bank accounts of unsuspecting people by withdrawing sums of money, which were then transferred to the bank accounts of gang members and even companies.
In order to lose their electronic "traces", the fraudsters allegedly... "break" the sums of money into smaller ones by constantly transferring them from account to account.
According to some information, it is considered highly possible that members of the crime network found their victims via the internet.
However, the activity of the network extended throughout the country: The change of sim cards was allegedly done in telecommunication shops in Crete and Athens, while the victims were located, among others, in Athens and Thessaloniki.
However, how did the perpetrators overcome the "obstacle" of confirmation that requires a special code to "open" the e-banking of their respective victim?
According to some information, after locating their victims, the perpetrators allegedly forged responsible statements through which the victims allegedly authorised members of the network to change their phone's SIM card.
The scammers allegedly went to telecommunication shops, where, using the fake statements, they applied for the replacement of the sim card.
When the sim card was finally changed and the phone connections of the real beneficiaries were disabled, the perpetrators were allegedly able to transfer money from their victims' accounts unhindered as the security codes were automatically sent to the ones who had the new sim cards.
READ MORE: Egypt cancels the illegal Turkish-Libyan memorandum demarcating maritime borders.
