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The Greek police are searching for the kidnappers of a 27-year-old girl who was abducted on 31 October in the evening and released on 6 November after her relatives paid a ransom amounting to 82,500 euro.
 
According to sources, the kidnapping had taken place at around 10:30 pm on 31 October, when a car had cut off the girl’s course on her way to her home in Kipseli, Athens. The kidnappers forced the girl to get into the car and then left in an unknown direction.

Three days later, they contacted the relatives of the victim and demanded a ransom amounting to 10 million euro to release her. In the following days, the negotiating parties established contact seven times and the final amount of the ransom agreed with the assistance of the special negotiating unit of the Greek police was 82,500 euro.

The money was delivered at 11:00 am on Sunday, 6 November, in the neighbourhood of Neo Iraklio, whereas the girl was released elsewhere, namely in the district of Ano Kipseli.

According to a publication of newspaper "To Vima", during the investigation the Greek police had examined the arrest of a 51-year-old businessman that had taken place in April 2013. He had been apprehended for involvement in an international criminal group and the European warrant for his arrest was issued by the Belgian police. The reason for the revision of the case was the fact that the kidnapped girl had a direct professional relationship with both the 51-year-old businessman and his other associates. The article states that she was not aware of his criminal activity.

Sources from the Greek police told the newspaper that the arrest of the businessman had to be examined because of another fact, namely that the authorities had data showing that he is associated with racketeers of Greek and foreign origin who have been raging in the southern suburbs of Athens.

The other version considered by the investigating authorities was that an organized criminal network with links and inmates in the Greek prisons had kidnapped the girl, their original purpose being to abduct another person, but it did not confirm.

The authorities are also investigating data showing that the 27-year-old girl became the target of the kidnappers having established contact with them in the establishment where she was working. The authorities do not exclude the probability of the attackers having close links with the girl’s relatives, who are members of the leadership of a provincial football team and are connected to oil companies.

The establishment where the kidnapped girl was working: tovima.gr

It is worth noting that after the arrest of the businessman in April 2013, the police had issued the following message:

"On 4 April 2013 the police station in the district of Vyronas arrested a Greek man, aged 50, under a European arrest warrant issued by the Belgian authorities on charges of involvement in a criminal group, falsification of official documents and sale of false documents. The man, aged 50, is accused of involvement in a criminal group composed of Greek and Bulgarian citizens. Its main activity is the smuggling of cigarettes that they have transported from Greece through Belgium and Holland to the final destination that is the UK."

It is not yet clear whether the 51-year-old businessman was released from the charges in court. According to other documents, his name is also on the list of Greeks with large debts to the state, the sum due amounting to 5.2 million euro.