The former goalkeeper of PAOK, Nikos Melissas, who this year defends the goalposts of Nea Salamina Famagusta in the Cypriot First Division, is one of the dozens of victims of a supercars scam.
Initially, the goalkeeper asked members of the crime ring to bring him a Toyota C-HR 2017, automatic, hybrid, which he was told would cost 12,000 euros when the same model is currently sold for around 25,000 euros.
In addition, he "bought" an identical 2018 model, and then they convinced him to order a 2019 Mercedes GLC 220, diesel, automatic. In total, he paid 36,000 euros for all three cars.
The criminal ring members took advantage of the football player's acquaintances and, by fraudulent means, convinced him to buy new vehicles, which he would resell to other acquaintances for a profit.
According to Proto Thema, Nikos Melissas, who was convinced of the solvency of the former president of the Greek boxing federation and the customs officer from Patras, i.e., the two main members of the ring, thought of expanding the buying activities, transporting luxury cars to Mykonos, with the purpose of using them as means of transport for tourists.
On behalf of this project, Nikos Melissas assigned the members of the criminal network to find a Range Rover, Velar model, 2018 , diesel and automatic, from abroad, which, as he was told, would cost him 20,000 euros.
However, with a quick look, the exact same model cannot be found at a price below 70,000 euros in the ads for the sale of used cars.
In addition, the former goalkeeper asked for a 2019 BMW X6 M, diesel, automatic, which he was told would cost 35,700 euros, so he paid 7,850 euros as a down payment. Notably, similar models are sold for over 100,000 euros.
Nikos Melissas even asked for a Fiat 500, for which he was tricked into thinking that he would only buy it for 5,000 euros . Finally, he gave half the money as a down payment for this particular car.
The goalkeeper's orders to buy luxury cars did not stop there. They had explained to him that the delivery would be completed after six months, enough time for Melissa to suspect the fraud.
So he also ordered a Mercedes A Class for 8,000 euros, a Toyota Yaris for 6,000 euros and a Ford Fiesta for 5,000 euros.
In total, he paid 66,350 euros for all the cars. The money, according to the goalkeeper himself, was deposited into the bank accounts of the boxing agent and the customs agent from Patras, but he never received any of the cars.
"After my complaints, the first criminal informed me that he was the victim of deception by the second criminal and that in the end all these excuses for the delay were his words," concluded the former PAOK goalkeeper in his lawsuit.
In total, the ring received more than half a million euros from the advances of 30 defrauded people, while the lawyers of the victims estimate that the fraud may exceed 1 million euros.
The well-known criminologist Alexis Kougias, legal representative of 30 defrauded clients, spoke of an unprecedented case of fraud for which it took a whole year in order to gather the necessary evidence to file charges against the two perpetrators.
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