The most well-organized network of illegal subscription television services ever detected in Greece was dismantled by Department for Combating Organized Crime in Crete of DEOE. The illegal profits of the organization at least touch the EUR 7 million While the total damage to legal companies in the industry is assessed in the astronomical amount of EUR 50 million with the client list surpassing 80,000 subscribers.
The "object" of the Authorities with interrogation penetration
To dismantle the criminal organisation, which is the Greek branch of a wider pan-European network, police recruited the method of "interrogation". On this basis Court of Justice, officers appeared as prospective clients.
For two months, police officers were on an open line of communication with circuit members, receiving instructions to install illegal software on their televisions, but also on ways to repay.
However, the access to broken software It wasn't an easy case. The members of the organization received strict self-protection measures and passed the stakeholders through "cosine". The identification of customer data and the guarantees for payment of the fee were inviolable conditions for the granting of illegal codes.
Kryptonian coins, 58 foreign accounts and luxury life
The intake activity of the circuit was through:
- Direct money transfer services
- Digital wallets (e-wallets)
- Cryptonomies
Following it “flow of money“ authorities found that the members of the organization lived in a state of absolute luxury, making a luxurious holiday on the Aegean islands. For the laundering of 'black' revenue, they had moved on to the market vehicles and at least two properties in Athens and Wild.
At the same time, in order to avoid large amounts being identified, they had spread their profits to at least 58 foreign bank accounts (Lithuania, Bulgaria, Malta, Luxembourg and Skopje), with the exact amount of deposits still under investigation.
Dozens involved in the file
So far, the authorities of Crete have moved on to 7 arrests and 76 people are still included in the brutal case-file. The investigations continue in cooperation with the international authorities for the full mapping of the network.