Eight cabbies arrested
Eight taxi drivers were detained at Athens International Airport on Saturday on suspicion of over-charging customers and not issuing receipts. Seven of the cabbies arrested allegedly had rigged their receipt issuing machines so that they appeared to be out of order, while two had made illegal alterations to their meters so they would clock up bigger fares, meaning that one driver was found to have used both tricks. Two of the drivers were also found to be in possession of small quantities of narcotics. A total of 35,000 euros in fines were imposed on the vehicles’ owners as the taxi drivers were expected to face a local prosecutor.
KTEO.
The operation of all state-run road worthiness testing centers (KTEO) in the Attica region will be suspended as of today, the regional authority has announced. The centers will remain closed until an assessment of their licenses and of whether they meet all legal criteria is completed.
Risky business.
A 57-year-old is to face a Thessaloniki prosecutor on charges of allegedly using his apartment in the city center as an illegal brothel. According to reports, the apartment was being used by three Greek women, aged 33, 37 and 40, as well as a 39-year-old foreign national, who worked as prostitutes. The four women were expected to face minor charges for not undergoing the regular health checks required for sex workers.
Fake funding.
A 55-year-old woman was arrested in Athens over the weekend for embezzling small company owners on the pretext that she could secure funding for their businesses from the European Union-backed National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF). The suspect, along with her accomplices who were being sought by police, allegedly presented herself as a representative of a company handling EU funding and demanded cash payments ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 euros in order to secure the subsidies. According to reports, the woman has embezzled some 25,000 euros from 11 people.
Explosive arrest.
A 44-year-old man arrested in the northern Peloponnese on Saturday in connection with a 2012 robbery in Piraeus, is being questioned over the discovery in his home of a sophisticated homemade explosive device. Officers who arrested the man in Argolida discovered during a search of his property, a bomb connected by fuse to the ammunition clip of a G3 battle rifle. They also found a large amount of cash in the suspect’s home, which has prompted them to further investigate any other criminal actions he may be involved in.