Marfin case: 46-year-old suspect returns to Greece

A team from the Directorate for Combating Crimes of Violence travelled to Britain to collect a 46-year-old woman accused of involvement in the fatal arson of a bank branch on Stadio Street in May 2010. The extradition process is completed on Thursday 6 August 2026 and her arrival in Greece is expected in the afternoon or evening of the same day, with her held in the holding cells of the General Police Directorate of Attica. On the morning of Friday 7 August she is scheduled to be brought before the competent prosecutor for execution of the outstanding international arrest warrant against her.

She was arrested on 13 July 2026 at London’s Gatwick airport under the international warrant. She subsequently appeared before a London court and accepted the Greek authorities’ extradition request, significantly expediting the process, as challenging an extradition request can require months of hearing procedures and appeals. Through her lawyer she denies any involvement in the case. At this point a clear contradiction is recorded between the accounts: the defence claims she voluntarily contacted Greek authorities and was returning to give explanations, yet her arrest occurred at an airport border check and under an international warrant—that is, within a compulsory rather than voluntary process.

The May 2010 arson remains one of the gravest cases of the past fifteen years: three workers lost their lives at the Stadio Street branch, trapped in smoke. The identity and personal details of the victims are not reproduced here, nor is the name of the accused disclosed, as she is not a public figure and fully entitled to the presumption of innocence until a final court decision is rendered. The case remained open for years and resurfaced through subsequent exploitation of evidence and international police cooperation, a mechanism permitting the search for persons long after the commission of the acts alleged against them. Sixteen years after the events, judicial investigation remains open, while the passage of time objectively complicates the evidentiary process, as witnesses are harder to locate and testimony less precise.

The next step is procedural but critical: after her appearance before the prosecutor on Friday 7 August, the manner in which the case will proceed will be determined—whether she will be committed to an investigating magistrate, when she will be given time to answer charges, and what detention status will apply pending trial. Acceptance of extradition does not entail any admission of guilt and does not prejudge the ruling of Greek courts. No timeline for case proceedings has been announced, nor whether further action will follow against other persons reportedly being sought. Granting time to answer charges is standard practice, as in other cases with scheduled answers scheduled for later that same week.