Officer charged with shipyard blackmail
A 28-year-old Greek police officer and a private detective, aged 30, were yesterday charged with blackmailing a family that owns a shipyard in Halkida for which the detective had completed an assignment last year. The policeman allegedly called the son of the shipyard owner, claiming that he had a tip-off regarding the presence of drugs on the shipyard’s premises and demanding a payoff of 30,000 euros to «bury» the case. When the victim refused, saying there were no drugs on the premises, he allegedly threatened to fabricate the existence of drugs at the shipyard. After further threats failed to work, the men allegedly visited the wife of the shipyard owner at her home and demanded 20,000 euros. The woman agreed and informed police, who supplied her with pre-marked bills and arrested the two men when they turned up for the exchange.
