The Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC), in plenary, by its Decision no 745/2021, adopted following the relevant Statement of Objections concerning the infringement of Article 39(5) of Law 3959/2011 by the company under the name ALTER EGO MEDIA SOCIETE ANONYME and the distinctive title ALTER EGO MEDIA S.A., as well as by the natural person named E.M., consisting in the obstruction of the on-site inspection (dawn raid) conducted by the Directorate-General for Competition (DGC) at the premises of the above undertaking, unanimously found that ALTER EGO MEDIA S.A. and the natural person infringed the above Article and, taking into account the particular gravity of the infringement, its detrimental character and impact on the dawn raid conducted, imposed a fine totaling two hundred thousand euros (EUR 200,000) on the above undertaking and a fine totaling one million euros (EUR 1,000,000.00) on the natural person.

In particular, as stated in the grounds of the decision, in the course of the on-site inspection carried out by DGC officials on 8.5.2020 at the premises of ALTER EGO, a series of incidents occurred that directly violated the obligation of active cooperation by ALTER EGO, both during and after the completion of the dawn raid in the context of the investigation conducted. Furthermore, the natural person referred to above obstructed the on-site inspection at the premises of the above undertaking, in particular, by concealing certain documents/pieces of evidence,. As a result the DGC officials completed the on-site inspection having collected only a part of the existing evidence and files, which were previously obtained from the premises of the investigated undertaking, a conduct likely to adversely affect the effectiveness of the on-site inspection.

In the light of the above findings, the HCC unanimously decided as follows, by open vote:

1. Finds, as detailed in the grounds of the decision, that the company infringed Article 39 (5) of L. 3959/2011;

2. Imposes a fine totaling two hundred thousand euros (EUR 200,000,00) on the company ALTER EGO MEDIA S.A. for the infringement found according to the above grounds of the Decision;

3. Finds, as detailed in the grounds of the decision, that the natural person named Ε.Μ. infringed Article 39 (5) of L. 3959/2011;

By majority, further decides as follows:

4. Imposes a fine totaling one million euros (EUR 1,000,000.00) on E.M. for the infringement found according to the above grounds of the Decision.