ATHENS – A Greek Supreme Court prosecutor ordered the Financial Prosecutor’s Office to open an investigation into alleged irregular Greek real estate transactions by a former executive of retailer Jumbo, a major toy chain.

Jumbo’s Deputy Vice-Chairman Evangelos Papaevangelou resigned after a news report claimed he had set up a real estate company which allegedly sold property to Chinese nationals through the use of Point-of-Service (POS) terminals in China, which has restrictions like Greece on taking money out of the country.

The scheme also qualified those investors for Greece’s Golden Visa program just as reports show a surge in Chinese wanting to scoop up Greek properties cheap to get a residency permit that allows them unrestricted travel within the European Union, a scheme being used by more countries to get money from rich foreigners.

Jumbo denied it had any knowledge of Papaevangelou’s alleged irregular activities.