Patras: The Slovak fraudster was looking for tenants in an apartment that was not hers

In Greece, the 37-year-old Slovak fraudster Maria Celektikova claimed to be the wife of a rich businessman and in Bratislava, where she started her illegal activities, deceiving dozens of unsuspecting citizens, she was a successful lawyer.

The 37-year-old had turned fraud into a profession, with the result that during the time she was in our country, she stayed with her dog Tsamba in various hotels with the excuse that her rich partner would pay the bill. At the last hotel he stayed in Nafpaktos he claimed he would pay the bill via e-banking. He then sent the hotel an e-mail with a transfer document for 600 euros, but it turned out to be a fake.

In her home country of Bratislava Maria Celektikova had implemented another plan of action, posing as the owner of an apartment in the city, which she was looking to rent out to anyone who was interested.

As Suzana Spinderova reports on protothema.gr, who is one of the dozens of victims who have reported her to the authorities in Slovakia, but also through a post on her Facebook page for which she even received threats from her, the 37-year-old is a lawyer in the profession: “It is hard to believe that she has been arrested. He fooled so many people that it’s still hard to count them,” she says excitedly.

And he adds: “Here she was looking to find tenants for an apartment that was supposed to be hers. This apartment even went so far as to sell it to a person and normally collect the money from him. To this day, she has neither handed over the keys nor, of course, the money she put in her pocket.”

In her narration, Suzana Spinderova also reveals her own adventure, as well as the money she sent her thinking she had rented the apartment in the city center: “When I was returning to Slovakia from Belgium, I wanted her to rent me the apartment she had advertised . He even made a WhatsApp video call to me from this apartment he supposedly had. We agreed and he asked me to pay in advance, which is standard practice when you rent an apartment. When I was about to move out, I realized it was a scam, so I’ve never seen the apartment or my money back. This woman is a lawyer and knows how to do her scams perfectly.”

Zuzana even went so far as to report to the authorities, just like other people, only she had managed to leave Bratislava, with the result that a European arrest warrant has been issued against her from September 2021: “Of course I had reported her. But there was nothing the authorities could do because he had already escaped abroad. I know he was hiding in Greece for a long time. This woman doesn’t know when to stop it was only a matter of time before she was found and arrested.”

The defense of the Slovak defendant was undertaken by the well-known criminologist Sakis Kehagioglou. In the next few days, his client is expected to be brought before the Appellate Prosecutor of Western Central Greece.

In his statement, Mr. Kehagioglou states: “Today, Friday, December 9, 2022, together with my partner Manolis Vamvounakis, I took on the defense of Maria Geleticova, accused of ongoing fraud, a citizen of Slovakia, against whom an international arrest warrant was pending and who was on the wanted lists from 2 September 2021. In the next few days, he is expected to be taken to the Appellate Prosecutor of Western Central Greece”.