“If someone watched how he lived and moved, then it is impossible to imagine that he is a member of a criminal group engaged in illegal activities and managed to launder such large sums. He probably would have thought that this is a serious businessman, measured and disciplined.

These words were described by well-informed sources in cathimerini.gr profile of a notorious fraudster who, according to Europol, laundered money on behalf of the world’s biggest criminals and was arrested on May 31 in Glyfada.

52 year old he’s been a target for a long time the Dutch authorities, who requested the assistance of the Economic Crime Prosecutor’s Office to monitor him.

He wasn’t suspicious.

His persecution by the Dutch comes after a lengthy investigation by the Dutch police into his activities, as he is suspected of leading a criminal organization that monthly laundered millions of euros for criminals.

“Banker” has long been in our country and he took care to form a profile that could scare off prying eyes and not arouse suspicion.

In particular, according to the kathimerini.gr report, prisoner led a good life and conscientiously followed his daily routine. He woke up early in the morning, did exercises, then held meetings and after a working day returned to his apartment.

That man managed a real estate company in our country which had at its disposal about 13 apartments, not particularly large or luxurious, in the districts of Daphni and Iliupoli, while while she was in Greece, she never disturbed the authorities.

How did they track him down?

The countdown to the capture and possible capture of the 52-year-old man began after analysis of encrypted conversations.

In particular, Europol was able to collect a huge amount of information by hacking the systems of three encrypted communication tools commonly used by criminals: Encrochat, Sky ECC and ANOM.

These conversations were about period June 2020 – March 2021 and their decryption was done in the context of the operation of the Dutch authorities called “Claver”.

As it turned out as a result of the study, The “banker” of the crime managed to sell a gigantic amount of 250 million euros in 10 months. The money was transferred through an “underground” banking system using encrypted communications, with the money obtained through a series of illegal activities, but mostly from the drug trade.

“He was able to transfer money remotely without arousing any suspicion. He is a leading specialist in the field of finance. He channeled money through underground banking systems and, in the Netherlands, distributed cash through couriers. At the end of the day, he was sent a balance of payments, that is, a general report on the traded money, ”informed sources explained to K.

A lot of money and “gold” watches

During a search of the detainee’s home, banknotes from various countries were found and seized, including euros, US dollars, Canadian and Australian dollars, Swiss francs, Turkish liras, UAE dirhams and South African rands.

At the same time, two luxury watches were seized. the cost of which is close to 100,000 euros.

Finally, mobile phones were confiscated, including a mobile phone used for encrypted conversations through special applications, a tablet, a digital disk and SIM cards.