Arrests in Greece for demining fraud in BiH

Police forces in Greece have arrested the head of the non-governmental organization International Demining Center from this country on charges of fraud amounting to nine million euros. This organization, as the Bosnian news agency Patria (NAP) has learned, also operated in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The organization's headquarters was recently moved from Greece to Cyprus. Seven more people have been detained, including the organization's leader's wife, and three former and three current employees of the organization. Police announced that this is one of the largest cases of misuse of state funds and money laundering found in Greece to date.  

The center's leader, a former journalist, allegedly acquired four properties, three in Athens and one on the island of Rhodes, and lived in a luxury villa in the capital. The organization received nine million euros from Greece, allegedly for demining in BiH, Iraq, and Lebanon from 2000 to 2004. Police stated that embassies did not monitor the implementation of the projects, nor is it clear at all whether the planned projects were ever carried out on the ground.