According to the report, there are «indications of wiretapping or suspicious surveillance within the ruling party, involving a minister who apparently did not have particularly good relations with other associates of the Prime Minister. Thus, it appears that his entire exchange of messages with a journalist—who had been investigated by the Hellenic Police— regarding the security measures being taken, etc.».
The minister pictured in the *Nea* report is none other than Michalis Chrysochoidis, who had a strained relationship with the Dimitriadis regime and had clashed with him over contracts awarded by the Ministry of Citizen Protection.
At the same time, the report also mentions a second incident, in which «another political figure, with the same level of… connections, discovered in the spring of 2021 an SMS with a suspicious link on his cell phone, which led to him being targeted with this type of software. The politician in question, however, realized that something suspicious was going on (at that time, the use of Predator in Greece had not yet been revealed), consulted security experts, and disabled the device he was using at the time.».
Vasilis Lampropoulos takes a swipe at Grigoris Dimitriadis, asking whether he knew that political figures were being monitored. «It is, of course, unknown whether, in certain cases, this occurred with the knowledge of the former Secretary-General to the Prime Minister, Grigoris Dimitriadis,» the report states, without, however, asking whether the Prime Minister was also aware of the parastatal apparatus that was monitoring political figures and journalists.
Surveillance of businesspeople, including in-person surveillance
The case is particularly interesting because, according to the report, not only was a businessman being monitored, but also individuals who were targeted for personal reasons. As reported by Nea, «an SMS containing a trap link was allegedly sent in early November 2021 to a businessman outside Athens who has been active in many professional fields.”.
According to further investigation, this allegedly happened in order to monitor other acquaintances of prominent figures through him, but also because he was an «enemy» of businesspeople who appeared to have good relations with that particular center.
»It also remains unknown whether Predator was even used to eavesdrop on men and women for private reasons.".
According to the report, one of the key questions that arises concerns the physical surveillance and/or recording of conversations—during meetings and in cafes—involving yet another political figure. In fact, in this case, it appears that police officers assigned to monitor political figures and EYP agents were used, while the aim of this operation, which took place quite recently, was to determine whether the political figure was «leaking» information to journalists investigating the wiretapping scandal.
The report identifies businessman Yiannis Lavranos as the mastermind behind the surveillance ring, noting that the questions «are multiplying in light of the benefits that businesspeople (who are primarily active in the fields of communications, digital systems, and other high-tech sectors) who had long-standing ties to this system. These individuals were interested in communications issues within law enforcement agencies, the EYP’s wiretapping systems, the contractor selection process for issuing new ID cards, etc. It should be noted that the most recent tender was canceled following political backlash.».
Links to Organized Crime
Finally, the *Nea* report also mentions ties to organized crime, with journalist Vasilis Lampropoulos now describing how it operated as a whole: a parastatal decision-making center that held politicians and businesspeople hostage through an extensive surveillance system, even for private purposes.
Dimitriadis-Lavranos in the crosshairs
It is striking that Vangelis Marinakis’s newspaper chose this particular moment to publish the above information, bringing the wiretapping scandal back into the spotlight—and doing so with new details, such as the surveillance of government ministers. It also describes, for those familiar with the details of the case, the modus operandi of the parastatal organization based at the Maximos Mansion, with only one person missing from the picture: That person is Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is said to have been unaware of the activities of his close associates, as well as the fact that half of the country’s «political and economic life» was being monitored.
In contrast, the *Nea* report places the entire blame for the wiretapping scandal on two individuals. The first is Grigoris Dimitriadis, and the second is his close friend Yiannis Lavranos. People familiar with the power dynamics at Maximos said yesterday afternoon, when the Nea report was published, that the revival of the issue—and in such an aggressive manner toward Dimitriadis and Lavranos—could be interpreted either as a sign that the Prime Minister’s inner circle now fears judicial intervention, or because the Prime Minister himself, for reasons that go beyond even the wiretapping scandal, has decided to «finish off» his nephew and former close associate, Grigoris Dimitriadis. The same circles, of course, point out pointedly, that Dimitriadis has so far covered for the Prime Minister and accepted responsibility for the scandal without believing it was his to bear, but obviously, if he needs to speak out to «save himself,» he will do so.
