Greek police dismantle "Choriatiko" bakery crime network across nine regions

Greek police dismantled an organized crime network operating behind the Choriatiko bakery chain in a nationwide operation launched on Sunday, October 25, 2026. The group allegedly defrauded the Greek state, public legal entities and local government organizations through systematic tax evasion, forgery and money laundering.

Fifty-nine people were arrested during the raids, while the resulting indictment includes 149 defendants in total. The operation was carried out by the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime with support from police units in Attica and the regions, the Special Repressive Anti-Terrorist Unit, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Hellenic Coast Guard.

Investigators said the network had operated at least since 2016 and developed a complex web of businesses across Attica, Rhodes, Mykonos, Larissa and Corinth, with financial and operational links to Bulgaria, Ireland and Denmark. Members created and used 430 interconnected corporate structures, of which 340 served an organized mechanism to systematically avoid tax, social security and other financial obligations.

The companies appeared as independent business entities but were actually controlled by the same individuals, who concealed their true roles by using nominal managers and legal representatives known as straw men. Police also revealed a central business and coordination center on Kifisou Avenue in Peristeri, allegedly headed by bakery owner Angelos Giannakopoulos.

Raids on homes, offices, shops, professional premises and vehicles yielded cash and foreign currency worth 528,687.38 euros, two checks worth 70,000 euros, 18 vehicles including 12 cars and six motorcycles, branded bags valued at 155,000 euros, and watches and jewelry estimated at 500,000 euros. Officers also seized 15 gold coins, corporate seals, bank cards, POS terminals, cash-counting machines, mobile phones, SIM cards, computers, tablets, hard drives and handwritten notes.

An earlier August 27 search of an accounting office in Rhodes by the Coast Guard resulted in the seizure of an additional 949,658.38 euros, while 5,208,011.16 euros were immediately frozen in bank accounts linked to the investigated activity. The Anti-Money Laundering Authority also froze 130 corporate bank accounts and 213 additional accounts, with account consolidation still pending.