Athens, Sept 17 - The director of Greece's competition watchdog was sent to jail on Sunday pending trial on extortion and blackmail charges in one of the country's biggest corruption cases.
Panayotis Adamopoulos, director of the independent Competition Committee, a consumer protection agency, is charged with demanding a bribe of 2.5 million euros ($3.18 million) from a dairy company.
A magistrate sent Adamopoulos to Athens' Korydallos prison to await trial. Two alleged accomplices, a customs officer and a grains trader, were jailed earlier in the week ahead of their trial.
The case has fuelled daily headlines in the media, as all three men have close ties with the ruling conservative New Democracy party.
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis told a party meeting on Sunday that his government would crack down on corruption.
Adamopoulos, who has been suspended from his post, has denied any wrongdoing. He was appointed in 2005.
"Adamopoulos told the magistrate today he was neither attempting to bribe nor had he demanded any money from the company," a court source told Reuters.
No court date has been set yet for the trial.
The socialist political opposition has said the case was not a victory in the war against graft but rather a sign of corruption increasing despite the conservative government's vows to fight it.
Greece is ranked by the Transparency International watchdog as the most corrupt in the 12-nation euro zone.