The old port of Mykonos. Choriatiko owner Angelos Giannakopoulos allegedly paid a police officer on the island for advance warning of inspections. Photo: Bernard Gagnon / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Choriatiko Owner Allegedly Paid Mykonos Police Officer €300 a Month for Tip-Offs

28 Oct 2026, 04:22 by Stella Mazonakis · Greek City Times

The businessman behind Greek bakery chain To Choriatiko (Το Χωριάτικο) allegedly paid a police officer on Mykonos at least €300 a month for confidential information and advance warning of police checks, according to court documents reported by Kathimerini and Ta Nea.

Angelos Giannakopoulos, whom police describe as the alleged leader of the network at the centre of the Choriatiko investigation, is said to have made the payments to a police sub-lieutenant serving on the island “from 2022 until at least October 2024”, Kathimerini reported, citing judicial documents in its possession. In return, the officer allegedly provided “information and official secrets”.

According to Ta Nea, the information concerned upcoming inspections at businesses Giannakopoulos ran in Attica and on Mykonos.

A €3,000 offer over a police transfer

In a separate incident in September 2024, Giannakopoulos and another person allegedly offered €3,000 to a different police officer serving on Mykonos, in an effort to arrange a mutual transfer with the officer receiving the monthly payments, Ta Nea and Pagenews reported.

According to the same reports, there is no indication that the officer accepted the money, and the transfer did not go ahead.

Reports by MEGA, carried by Newsit, also point to 3 June 2024, when a planned inspection by the police Extortion Unit at a well-known Mykonos club managed by Giannakopoulos was allegedly leaked from inside the force. The officer who took part in the inspection recorded no violation.

The sub-lieutenant was arrested in the summer of 2025. The trial, in which Giannakopoulos, a close associate who is among those arrested in the Choriatiko case and police officers are defendants, is due to begin on Friday, 30 October, according to Kathimerini. Pagenews reported that Giannakopoulos faces charges of bribing an official, jointly and repeatedly.

Other officers under scrutiny

Kathimerini also reported that investigators from the Organised Crime Directorate (DAOE) found that two serving police officers held regular phone conversations with the manager of a strip club on Syngrou Avenue linked to Giannakopoulos, allegedly warning him of upcoming checks.

A police officer who previously headed a security unit on Rhodes, already suspended over a separate case, allegedly looked up the number plates of DAOE vehicles sent to Rhodes on the police’s internal Police On Line system and informed Giannakopoulos’s associates on the island. These officers are not named in the case file, and their role will be assessed during the main investigation, the newspaper said.

Property and the money trail

The 850-page case file, as summarised by Proto Thema, alleges that proceeds of the scheme were channelled into property in Greece and Dubai, high-value vehicles and purported severance payments to associates.

Investigators are examining a €2.6 million payment involving a Cypriot company in July 2021, connected to a property transaction on Mykonos, as well as a €1.5 million transfer to a London-based company in August 2025. Seven Cyprus-based holding companies are under investigation.

On Mykonos, Giannakopoulos acquired a 50 per cent stake in a company connected to the well-known Spilia restaurant at Agia Anna in autumn 2023, a deal that later led to a bitter dispute, Proto Thema reported. According to the case file, a criminal group later demanded that he accept €20 million for his stake and walk away. He reportedly refused.

According to Pressing.gr, whenever he bought a business on Mykonos, he made sure to buy the building that housed it as well. Proto Thema reported that he had also bought a shop in Gialos, the island’s harbour area, with plans to open a takeaway cooked-food business.

The scale of the case

The case file names 149 alleged participants, 58 of whom were arrested, and more than 340 interconnected companies. Authorities have documented €95.56 million in outstanding tax and social security debts, including penalties and surcharges, Proto Thema reported.

The allegations remain subject to judicial examination, and all those implicated are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

(Sources: Kathimerini, Ta Nea, Proto Thema, Pagenews, Newsit, Pressing.gr)

Stay connected to Greek City Times for Free on Google News
Click NOW
Stay updated with the latest news from Greece and around the world on greekcitytimes.com.
Contact our newsroom to share your updates, stories, photos, or videos. Follow GCT on WhatsApp, Google News and Apple News.

Related coverage

Advertising