SDOE, FinMin employees arrested for extortion

Six people, including two Financial Crimes Squad (SDOE) employees and a Finance Ministry employee, were arrested on Monday over bribery and extortion charges, the Greek police department announced on Tuesday.

According to a statement released on Tuesday, the case involved a 68-year-old accountant, her 74-year-old husband, a former Finance Ministry employee and their 43-year-old son, a Bank of Greece employee, two SDOE employees and a 54-year-old Finance Minister staffer.

The arrests came following a complaint filed by a businessman who alleged that the two SDOE employees had demanded money, through the accountant, in order to conclude a company inspection without imposing heavy fines.

The businessman alleged he was initially asked to pay 60,000 euros, a sum which following negotiations with the accountant, was eventually lowered to 50,000 euros.

All six were expected to face a prosecutor on Tuesday.