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Greek police arrest 3 for theft from security company

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) - Greek police said Saturday they have arrested three people involved in the theft earlier this year of 4.2 million euros ($4.65 million) from the office of a security company in northern Greece.

One of those arrested is the manager of the local office of Brink's Hellas, the Greek subsidiary of the U.S.-based security services firm, in the city of Kavala, east of Thessaloniki. Police said that he had falsely reported to police last January that he had been abducted by two masked men and forced to open the company's safe containing money destined for bank ATMs.

Security cameras from the firm's offices showed the manager being led by two masked men inside the company offices early on Jan. 26, 2019. The 44-year-old manager was found later that day bound in a chair inside his office, police say.

The security manager had told police that the masked men kidnapped him at his home, saying they had also kidnapped his daughter, whom they were prepared to kill if he did not give them money.

Police officers who briefed reporters Saturday said that an investigation yielded that the 'Å“kidnappers'Å¥ were a 64-year-old owner of an auto repair shop and his 41-year-old son. The son and the security manager are reportedly close friends.

Police had suspected from the start that the theft was an inside job and finally concluded the kidnapping story was a cover, although they could not point to a pattern of conspicuous consumption among the three suspects. The three were arrested Thursday and a search at the auto shop Friday, with the help of a specially trained dog, yielded almost 3.4 million euros ($3.8 million) hidden in a well, in boxes buried underground and inside a speaker.

The three faced an examining magistrate Friday and were charged, the manager with embezzlement and the other two as accessories.

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