Police insiders helped fugitive
Police suspect that corrupt officers helped a fugitive – who was sentenced to 14-and-a-half years in jail – to obtain a new identity card just weeks after his conviction, sources said yesterday. Vassilis Stefanakos is wanted by authorities in connection with several underworld crimes but it emerged Tuesday that he had recently obtained a new-style identity card, which the police are responsible for issuing. Sources said that officers at central police headquarters were tipped off about Stefanakos receiving a new ID card and began searching through the lists of applicants. They found that the card had been issued by a police station in Petroupolis, eastern Athens. The police’s internal affairs department has been investigating the case and suspects that two police lieutenants helped the fugitive to obtain his new card. However, sources said that other officers, including higher-ranking personnel, are being investigated in connection to Stefanakos’s criminal activities.
