GREECE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ovvadias S. Namias, Vasileios Petropoulos, Ilias Spyropoulos and Emmanouil V. Apostolakis, Ovvadias S. Namias Law Firm
Overview The crime of fraud has been at the centre of scientific debate and jurisprudence in the Greek legal order in recent years. This is firstly because its regulatory framework has undergone a leg - islative change, which will be discussed below. In addition, the offence of fraud is one of those which in recent years has become increasingly transnational in nature. This, of course, also entails great difficulties in identifying the offence, the possible perpetrators and participants, and in securing the object of the crime (ie, the lost property), for which the victim of the crime will be compensated in civil and criminal matters. The above-mentioned particularities and difficul - ties appear to an overwhelming extent in cyber - fraud and increasingly in the field of cryptocur - rency, where the emergence of more and more cryptocurrencies, their widespread acceptance in the field of transactions, and their easy mobil - ity and convertibility make them attractive to would-be perpetrators, and at the same time create new challenges for the authorities with regard to the protection of potential victims, both in terms of prevention and repression (which is of interest in this context). The Risk of Fraud Owing to the Absence of a Regulatory Framework for Crypto-Assets and the Provision of Cryptocurrency-Related Services Cases of cryptocurrency investors being defrauded are on the rise. There are many pro - viders operating cryptocurrency platforms on Greek territory, the supervision of which is a chal - lenge for the Hellenic Securities and Exchange Commission, mainly owing to the Commission’s lack of regulatory and enforcement capacity to intervene in such operations when violations are detected. Indicative of the problem is the fact that the Securities and Exchange Com -
mission – through a series of announcements in recent months – has drawn the attention of investors concerning the scrutiny of companies (with which they are co-operating or intend to co-operate), with regard to their licensing and supervisory regime. For the time being, it should be noted that the Securities and Exchange Commission does not supervise the cryptocurrency markets (crypto- assets) and the provision of services related to cryptocurrency investments. It only examines relevant transactions that may be related to mon - ey laundering. Ηowever, a draft law is already in place for the Securities and Exchange Commis - sion to supervise transactions in cryptocurren - cies which will be called investment products. Mens Rea and Actus Reus of the Crime of Fraud as Described in Article 386 of the Greek Criminal Code Under paragraph 1 of Article 386 of the Greek Criminal Code (GCC), whoever, by knowingly representing false facts as true or by unlawful concealment of true facts, damages foreign property by persuading someone to act or omit or acquiesce in an act with the purpose of obtaining from the damage to such property an illegal pecuniary benefit for themselves or anoth - er, shall be punished by imprisonment, and, if the damage caused is particularly severe, by impris - onment for at least three months and by a fine. If the damage caused exceeds in total the amount of EUR120,000, imprisonment of up to ten years and a fine shall be imposed. Pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 386 GCC, if the fraud is directed against a legal person of the Greek public sector, legal persons under public law or local government bodies, and if the damage caused exceeds the total amount of EUR120,000, imprisonment of at least ten
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