Surveillance of the suspects began in the summer of 2015. The recording of their calls and movements was so thorough that in some cases the police bugged the antiquarians while they were investigating illegal excavations. Against the background of the recorded conversations, the sound of metal detectors stood out.

The police did not limit themselves to these conclusions. To close the case, they sent requests for legal assistance to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the UK and Bulgaria, requested the opening of bank branches abroad, and examined the records of international auction houses. They completed their investigation after a year, and in January 2018, the Patras Board of Appeal issued a 2,546-page order bringing 47 defendants to trial.

For the Greek judicial chronicles, it was symbolic. case of antiquities. Not only because of the large number of people involved, but also because this is the first time the intended role has been analyzed in such detail. international auction houses V laundering of illegal antiquities. However, seven years after the investigation, the case has not yet been considered in the first instance.

The first session of the Patras Tripartite Court of Appeal for Criminal Cases was scheduled for October 2020. However, successive delays followed. Reasons: on the one hand, the restrictive measures that were in place during the pandemic, on the other hand, the need to appoint lawyers for some defendants and, more recently, the non-participation of lawyers in criminal trials of the first degree for the purpose of crimes related to the creation of a criminal organization. The plenary meeting of the country’s bar associations has been demanding for several months now the repeal or change of a provision whereby the sentences of persons who have committed crimes (and misdemeanors) against property and property are not reduced or revoked if they commit the crime as a gang.

Most recently, the trial was due to start early last month, but was again pushed back to June 2023. Two defenders explained “K” that in this particular case there is no immediate danger of restriction. But this is another story of the untimely administration of justice in our country. In the course of inspections carried out in the houses, warehouses and cars of the defendants in the case, the authorities seized 2024 coins and 126 antiques. In 2017, after a systematic effort, 33 late Bronze Age vessels, geometric period small objects and 600 antique coins were repatriated and exported to Munich, Germany, along this route.

The case file describes in detail the route of ancient objects (by coins) from their illegal excavations to their sale to an international house.

The case file describes in detail the path of ancient objects (by coins) from their illegal excavation to sale to an international house. For example, in May 2016, a silver half-drachm with the image of the goddess Demeter on the obverse was sold at an auction in Zurich for 15,000 Swiss francs. The coin was allegedly found three months earlier in Karpenisi. In a recorded conversation, one of the defendants reported that the auction house receives 20% as a commission and that 8-10% of the final price is intended to receive a fake certificate of origin.

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The police found that some foreign auction houses maintain long-term relationships with specific Greek antiquities dealers and even provide them with advance amounts of tens of thousands of euros so that they have liquidity and make illegal purchases from illegal diggers or middlemen. These advances also have a monthly interest rate which indicates the activity of the banking institution and is checked for its legitimacy.

The case file also describes examples of auction manipulation. International houses are reportedly contacting Greek traders and urging them to stage virtual “strike strikes” at online currency auctions. The goal is to raise the price and get those who are really interested to pay more for the purchase. However, even if the smuggler by miscalculation offers the largest amount and the coin remains with him, he will not suffer. He is given ownership of the house. With this trick, illegal antiques are washed away, made legal, and can be re-listed by the smuggler in another auction, now with a collectible history.

The central figure in the case is an old man, who was called “grandfather” or “ambassador”. After secret excavations, he was approached by “seekers”, farmers and hunters to evaluate their finds and make them available on the international market. Although the case file details the role of international houses, no criminal proceedings have been initiated against the eight individuals, owners, board members and representatives named in the will. It was decided that there was not enough evidence of their guilt.