Sunday morning in Athens brought an operation that had been postponed more than once. Police arrested Angelos Giannakopoulos, owner of the “Choriatiko” bakery chain, in a case in which losses to Greece’s social security agency EFKA are reportedly approaching €100 million. A second suspect, an accountant believed to have played a key role, was also taken into custody. Both are suspects, and none of the allegations has been tested in court.
The raid was carried out by the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime, widely known as Greece’s “FBI,” and followed an investigation that reportedly began in January 2026. Specialized units were said to be conducting coordinated raids in several areas at once, and early reports spoke of employees and executives also being detained.
The arrest moved up
According to police sources, Giannakopoulos had been in Dubai, which led to repeated delays. After he came back to Greece, police allegedly received word that he planned to leave again, this time for Albania. They brought the operation forward from the Monday originally set.
The plan reportedly envisaged around 50 arrests, and further operations in the coming days have not been ruled out.
A web of about 200 companies
Investigators are examining roughly 200 companies. There are indications that nominees, commonly called “straw men,” were used in some cases to hide who really owned and ran them. Reports say the network was used for fictitious transactions and tax fraud, and for building up large debts to social security bodies.
The probe is not confined to bread. “Choriatiko” has dozens of outlets in Attica and elsewhere, including Volos, some company-owned and some franchised. Reports add that Giannakopoulos owns nightclubs and has interests along the Athens Riviera, and investigators are looking at all of it. The charges in the case file reportedly include forming a criminal organization, fraud against the state, tax evasion, and failure to pay VAT and social security contributions. Authorities are still working out the scale of the transactions, how many people were involved and the exact losses to the state.
A name known to the courts
Against this backdrop, the businessman is not a stranger to investigators. He was arrested in 2010 in an inquiry into a human trafficking ring. A 2007 operation, Vitrine, had led to 73 arrests, and a follow-up, code-named “White Bread,” uncovered mechanisms used to launder money from illegal nightlife businesses. In April 2015 he was convicted of offenses tied to a criminal organization and human trafficking. One account puts the sentence at 10 years and six months, suspended under conditions that included a travel ban and regular reporting to a police station. Media reports at the time described women, mainly from Eastern Europe, who were allegedly forced to work in nightclubs.
His name also surfaced in 2025 in an extortion investigation, where a ring allegedly demanded large sums from him in return for protection.
Sources
- Owner of “Choriatiko” Bakery Chain Arrested in Multimillion-Euro Fraud Case
- Owner of “Choriatiko” Bakery Chain Arrested in Multimillion-Euro Fraud Case
- Owner Of “Choriatiko” Bakery Chain Arrested In Tax Fraud Probe – tovima.com
Photo: Badseed (CC BY-SA 3.0)
