European prosecutors raid networks importing illegal Chinese goods
The European Public Prosecutor's Office said it struck down a $800 million criminal scheme involving Chinese Imports coming through the port of Piraeus. File Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI | License Photo
June 26 (UPI) -- European prosecutors on Thursday announced raids in multiple nations targeting criminal networks importing fraudulent Chinese goods.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office said the 101 raids conducted in Bulgaria, Greece, France, and Spain on Wednesday as part of an investigation codenamed "Calypso" led to the arrests of 10 suspects and the seizure of $6 million in various currencies.
The raids also seized 7,133 e-bikes and 3,696 e-scooters, 11 properties in Spain, 27 vehicles and luxury items such as bags, watches and jewelry.
The EPPO said the scheme started with goods from China into the EU through the port of Piraeus, Greece in order to evade invoices using false documents to conceal the value of the merchandise.
The goods are sold to companies in specific Member states, where they are supposed to be sold on the market. After the goods enter the EU, they are stored in a criminal organization-controlled warehouse. From there, they are transported, using false documents, to France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain. The documents are destroyed when the goods are delivered and then sold on the black market.
An additional 480 containers for further checks and verification in the Port of Piraeus were also seized.
The EPPO alleged the scheme caused an estimated $800 million in damages.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
44 minutes ago
A hard-liner follows a fellow right-winger as head of Greece's migration and asylum ministry
Athens, Greece -- A hard-right lawmaker has replaced a fellow right-winger and political heavyweight accused of fraud as migration and asylum minister in Greece's government, a government spokesman announced Saturday. Thanos Plevris, 48, is succeeding Makis Voridis, 60, who resigned Friday to defend himself against allegations that he was possibly involved in an organized fraud scheme to provide farm subsidies to undeserving recipients. The European Public Prosecutor's Office, which has investigated the case, passed on a hefty file to the Greek Parliament that includes allegations of possible involvement of government ministers. Members of Parliament enjoy immunity from prosecution in Greece that can only be lifted by parliamentary vote. In his resignation letter, Voridis denied acting illegally and said he is resigning to clear his name. He noted that during his tenure as agricultural development and foods minister from July 2019 and January 2021, he capped individual subsidies and launched a record number of investigations. His detractors say those very actions are proof that he was aware of the corrupt subsidies system and did nothing to reform it. On Friday, four other lawmakers, three of whom had formerly served as deputy ministers in the Agricultural Policy Ministry, as well as a current deputy minister, also resigned. Their replacements were also announced Saturday by government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis, who added they will be sworn in Monday. No changes are expected to be seen in Greece's tough migration policy under Plevris who, like Voridis and current health minister Adonis Georgiadis, joined the conservative New Democracy in 2012, leaving the right-populist Popular Orthodox Rally, or LAOS. Before LAOS, Voridis had been the leader of the youth wing of the far-right National Political Union, appointed to the post by jailed former dictator George Papadopoulos. He had replaced Nikos Michaloliakos, who went on to found the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party and who is currently serving a prison term for leading what courts termed a 'criminal gang.' Voridis founded his own far-right party, Hellenic Front, and took part in several municipal and national elections between 1994 and 2004. In 2000, he allied himself with Plevris' father Konstantinos, a lawyer, far-right activist and self-styled 'proud fascist.' Voridis joined LAOS in 2006 and has been a lawmaker since 2007. Voridis is considered a political heavyweight and, if not for his far-right and sometimes violent past, he would have been considered a possible conservative leader, politicians and pundits agree. He now describes himself as an economic liberal and a 'non-extreme' nationalist.
UPI
2 hours ago
- UPI
Slain Minnesota state House member, husband mourned at funeral
Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were killed June 14 in their home in Brooklyn Park. Photo courtesy of Minnesota House of Representatives June 28 (UPI) -- About 1,500 people on Saturday attended the funeral of slain former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in Minneapolis. The Catholic service was private but it was livestreamed on the Minnesota Department of Public Safety's YouTube page. KMSP-TV reported an estimated 1,500 people attended the service at Basilica of St. Mary, including former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and Gov. Tim Walz and his wife, Gwen, who sat next to each other in the front row. Walz was a pallbearer and gave an eulogy. "Melissa Hortman will be remembered as the most consequential speaker in Minnesota history -- and I'll always remember her as a close friend, a mentor and the most talented legislator I've ever known," Walz said. "For seven years, I've had the privilege of signing her bills into law. And I know that millions of Minnesotans will get to live better lives because she and Mark chose public service." Walz described their enduring relationship of 30 years. "There's a part of the story that belongs only to those of us fortunate enough to know the people behind that legacy," Walz said. "It takes place at CR's Billiards, where Mark loved to shoot pool on Monday nights. It takes place in the garden, where Melissa fussed over her lilies like they were wayward members of the caucus. It takes place in the kitchen, where Mark fed his sourdough starter and Melissa mixed margaritas and baked cakes, and Gilbert begged for scraps, and the sound of laughter filled the air." Robin Ann Williams, a close friend of the couple, also gave an eulogy. She explained how Mark Hortman was supportive of his wife. "Mark was also happy to stay at home ... He was always proud of Melissa, and vice versa, and they were never jealous of each other," Williams said. She remembered the families' last dinner together one week before their deaths on June 14. "We are buried in sorrow right now, but I do believe that we will experience joy again. And Mark and Melissa would not want it any other way," she said. Father Dan Griffith said the Hortmans' home in Brooklyn Park became known as "Hortman Hotel" where everyone was welcome. During his homily, Griffifth described Minnesota as "the Ground Zero place, sadly, for racial injustice, the killing of George Floyd just miles from our church today. And now we are the Ground Zero place for political violence and extremism." They leave behind two children. The couple and their dog, Gilbert, laid in state in the Minnesota Capitol Rotunda. More than 7,000 paid their respects on Friday, according to the Minnesota Department of Safety. The funeral included a flyover by a State Patrol helicopter and bells toiled at the Basilica. Vance Boelter, 57, is accused of killing the Hortmans and their dog. About 90 minutes before the Hortmans died, Boelter allegedly also shot Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. He was arrested near his Sibley County home the next day.
UPI
4 hours ago
- UPI
Families decry conditions inside immigrant detention centers
June 28 (UPI) -- Friends and family members of people detained in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids are raising concerns over conditions inside detention centers in California. One family member reported not being able to meet with his father who is being held at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles and instead having to leave blood pressure medication for him, CBS News reported. CBS also quoted one immigration lawyer who collectively referred to the Los Angeles facility and others in California being used to detain thousands of people as a "ticking time bomb." Other family members report similar conditions faced by detainees. "She's saying that she's not being fed, that she's sleeping on a concrete floor and that her and a couple of people have to huddle in order to keep warm," Zulma Zapeta told KTLA in an interview about her mother. Zapeta's 41-year-old mother Guadalupe Gutierrez, has been detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County, Calif. Zapeta claims she has not been able to provide necessary medication to Gutierrez, who has been in the United States for over two decades and does not have a criminal record. Civil rights attorney Sergio Perez called the situation inside several of the state's federal detention centers "cruel and inhumane," in an interview with KABC-TV. "I saw people waiting for hours, elderly women and men without chairs in a concrete hallway infested with flies, and not receiving any information as to how long it was going to take to view their loved ones," Perez, executive director for the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, said in the interview. "This year alone, the number of children held for two weeks or longer, as this child and their family was, has increased sevenfold," the center said on Facebook. "Border Patrol runs some of the harshest and cruelest prisons that will never be safe for children -- making every day spent there dangerous." Officials are currently holding around 59,000 immigrants in federal detention centers across the country, CBS News reported this week, citing internal government data. That puts the number of detainees being held at 140% capacity, compared to the 41,500-person figure passed by Congress. Earlier this month, the city of Glendale, Calif., said it was terminating contracts with the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to house federal detainees at local police stations, calling the issue too "divisive." Private prison firm CoreCivic confirmed earlier in the month that it reached a deal with DHS and ICE to convert one of its facilities to house federal detainees. The Nashville-based company is converting its existing detention facility located in California City, in Kern County, Calif. The detention center currently has 2,560 beds for inmates.
