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Police hunt for kidnapped Greek shipping magnate
Greek police were searching yesterday for an elderly and ailing shipping magnate kidnapped a day earlier near his home in a seaside suburb of Athens.
- AP
- Published: 23:42 January 13, 2009
Athens: Greek police were searching yesterday for an elderly and ailing shipping magnate kidnapped a day earlier near his home in a seaside suburb of Athens.
Three gunmen snatched Periklis Panagopoulos, 74, along with his driver Monday morning after they had left the shipowner's home in Vouliagmeni.
They released the driver unharmed, and he notified authorities.
Police refused to confirm Greek media reports of a ransom demand of $53.58 million (about Dh196 million) for Panagopoulos - who founded Royal Cruise Lines as well as Attica Group, which owned two ferry lines.
Authorities declined to give information about the search for fear of endangering the investigation.
Panagopoulos' family appealed through the police for his release, saying he suffers from serious health problems.
"The victim is 74 years old and has a serious health condition that requires daily medication," police spokesman Panagiotis Stathis said on Monday.
Two vehicles found
He said authorities found two vehicles - a van and a jeep set on fire - abandoned by the kidnappers several kilometres miles from the site of the abduction.
Panagopoulos founded Royal Cruise Lines in 1971 and sold it in 1989 to a Norwegian company. He then moved into the ferry sector and founded Attica Group, which eventually owned Superfast Ferries and Blue Star Ferries with routes around Greece and Italy. He no longer runs that company.
Kidnappings are rare in Greece, though occasionally businessmen have been abducted for ransom. In June, gunmen snatched Greek industrialist Giorgos Mylonas near his home in the northern city of Thessaloniki and held him for 13 days until his family paid a ransom.
In August, police arrested four suspects in that case, including Greece's most wanted man, convicted armed robber Vassilis Paleokostas. Paleokostas had escaped from a maximum security prison in Athens in 2006 using a helicopter commandeered by accomplices.
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