Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 12-04-30
CONTENTS
[01] Psomiadis extradited, in custody
[01] Psomiadis extradited, in custody
AMNA / Fugitive former nightclub and football team owner Makis Psomiadis
has been in the hands of Greek authorities since 2:20 p.m. (12.20 GMT)
on Monday, when an Interpol team based in the former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia (fYRoM) turned him over to Interpol officers from Athens
at the Greek-fYRoM border.
Psomiadis has been charged with match-fixing and has been held in a
Skopje prison since his arrest in the city on a European arrest warrant
last November.
His extradition was approved after five and a half months and the handover
took place in no-man's land between the two border posts in Evzones. The
56-year-old Greek businessman was then put in an Interpol car that is
now heading for Athens. He is first due at central police headquarters
in Athens and will then be taken to the Athens prosecutors' office so
that a warrant ordering his temporary incarceration can be carried out.
The charges against him, linked to an investigation on match-fixing
launched last summer, include running a criminal organisation, money
laundering, extortion and fraud.
Psomiadis was first arrested by Greek authorities last September in
Anavyssos, southeast of Athens, on a match-fixing charge and was then
released pending trial because the prosecutor and examining magistrate
could not agree on whether he should be remanded in custody. An order for
his temporary incarceration was then issued by the Athens first-instance
judges' council but the 56-year-old had already fled the country and
taken refuge in Skopje.
Authorities in the neighbouring country caught up with him at a Skopje
cafe and arrested him based on a tip-off provided by Greek authorities. A
local magistrate ordered that he be remanded in custody and Athens has
been seeking his extradition since that time.
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