Greek shipowner reportedly kidnapped

Three gunmen kidnapped a man in a seaside suburb of Athens on Monday, police said. Local media identified him as shipowner Periklis Panagopoulos.

Police said the gunmen stopped a car in Vouliagmeni on Monday morning and forced the driver and passenger into another vehicle. The driver was later released.

Authorities have not officially released the man's identity, but police cordoned off the area around Panagopoulos' house. The kidnapping occurred near the house.

Panagopoulos formerly ran a cruise company and founded Attica Group, a company that owned two major ferry lines running routes within Greece and from Greece to Italy. Panagopoulos no longer runs the company.

Kidnappings are rare in Greece, but there have been occasional kidnappings of prominent local businessmen for ransom in the past.

Last June, gunmen snatched Greek industrialist Giorgos Mylonas from outside 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. The convict had escaped from a maximum security prison in Athens in 2006 using a helicopter commandeered by accomplices.