Group of 16 was revealed as responsible for the kidnapping of the ship-magnate Periklis Panagopoulos. 74-year old Panagopoulos was kidnapped in front of his house on January 12, 2009 and set free 8 days later, after the record amount of ?30m was paid by his family. Today, the chief of the Attica Security service Gianis Dikopoulos announced to journalists that the group standing behind the most expensive kidnap in Greek history has been revealed.

It is a group of 16, 10 of which are arrested, five are currently in jail and one is being pursued for other crimes too. The head of the band is a recidivist serving time in the Trikala prison. Among the arrested are a businessman, who helped with the ransom-money laundering, a specialist negotiator and two people from Crete, one of which a hotel owner. All of the arrested are of Greek nationality. This ended the speculations that the Albanian or Russian mafia has something to do with the case. The rumors appeared after a claim that the kidnappers spoke Greek language with an accent.

The hideaway where Panagopoulos was kept has not been found yet, nor the ?30m ransom. When another famous businessman- Georgios Milonas- was kidnapped, with ?10m paid in ransom, only 4m have been found; the other 6m vanished. The chase and the arrest fallowed after the police tapped cell-phone conversations. Today, all ten were taken to the prosecution.

Besides Panagopoulos kidnap, they are accused of participating in assassinations, attempts of assassinations, setting bombs, and threatening policemen, one of which- the head of the office dealing with their arrest, with death.