Municipal police head caught in migrant scam
The head of the Piraeus municipal police was sacked yesterday after being caught during a police raid on Thursday on an office selling forged documents to illegal immigrants. Police said yesterday Anastasia Vernikou was part of a gang forging residence permits, mainly for Moldovan illegal immigrants. She allegedly received 150 euros for every case she helped with. Residence permits are issued by municipal authorities. Vernikou was not arrested during the Piraeus raid on an office offering immigrants help with their paperwork run by Sudanese national Abdallah Elamin – who was arrested, as forged passports and other counterfeit documents were found on the premises. Detectives also raided three flats rented by the gang in Kato Patissia, Athens, where they arrested 13 illegal immigrants with false papers. They also arrested alleged gang members Floarea Bouka, 47, Ilia Dodi, 26, Michail Cretu, 45, and Sergiu Bouka, 28, all Moldovan nationals. Police are seeking a Romanian man believed to have run the gang.
