FYROManian Arrested for 2009 Kidnapping of Greek Shipowner Periklis Panagopoulos

Police announced the arrest of a 34-year-old foreign national from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), sought in connection with the kidnapping of ship owner Periklis Panagopoulos in January 2009. The suspect was arrested after an investigation lasting several months, conducted by the Attica Security Crimes Against Property department, and is also accused of a series of armed robberies targeting banks.

Among others, he is believed to have been an accomplice of the notorious criminal Mihalis Makrygiannis.

The suspect was arrested in Peristeri on Wednesday afternoon and has several outstanding convictions and arrest warrants against him. They include a sentence of 15 years, eight months passed by an Athens Criminal Appeals Court for possession of an improvised bomb and participation in the criminal gang that kidnapped Panagopoulos and three warrants for forming a criminal organisation, pimping, extortion and robbery.

A police investigation implicates the suspect in 21 bank robberies carried out in various parts of Greece from May 2012 until March 2013, with a collective loot of 250,000 euros, and robberies carried out in collaboration with Makrygiannis and an escaped inmate from May until October 2012.

At the time of his arrest and during a raid of his home, police found and seized: a tazer, a bullet-proof vest, shells of various calibres, three replica guns, three wigs, a fake ID and driving licence, heroin, a number of mobile phones and clothes worn during the robberies, as well as a sum of money.

The suspect was led before a Misdemeanours Court prosecutor and is to appear before an examining magistrate. (AMNA)

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