- Uniformed officers at the station had close ties to the Greek mafia from 2015 to 2017.
- Four policemen are under investigation for collaborating with a network that protected brothels and illegal casinos in downtown Athens, which was dismantled in mid-January.
- The mother of the 12-year-old reported that Ilias Michos had links to a police officer at the Kolonos police station.
By Vangelis Triantis
The Kolonos Police and Security Department has long been considered “notorious,” according to investigations by the Hellenic Police’s internal affairs and prosecutorial authorities. In particular, police officers from the Kolonos Security Department have been implicated in three separate cases that have preoccupied law enforcement and judicial authorities from 2015 to the present.
The first case involves the so-called Greek Mafia—an alleged corruption network that, with the help of corrupt police officers, protected hundreds of brothels, illegal casinos, and gambling dens between 2015 and 2017. The case has been tied up in court for nine years. Officers from the Kolonos Security Department were allegedly bribed to either tip off the network about upcoming inspections of studios and brothels in the area, or to turn a blind eye to such activity altogether.
The second case concerns a protection racket for brothels and illegal casinos in central Athens, which was dismantled in mid-January. Four police officers allegedly used the department’s terminal and internal applications to search for information on their colleagues in the Hellenic Police’s Internal Affairs Department, who were investigating the network.
The third case concerns the trafficking and rape of a 12-year-old girl in Kolonos who was exploited by the convicted perpetrator Ilias Michos. The child’s mother testified that Michos allegedly had connections with a police officer at the Kolonos police station. She also stated that when she tried to file a complaint against Michos at the station, the officers refused to take her complaint.
The protection racket of 2015-2017
According to a report by Data Journalists, in December 2016, the then-director of the National Intelligence Service (EYP), Yiannis Roubatis, submitted a 70-page intelligence briefing to the Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office.
In December 2016, Yiannis Roubatis, then-director of the National Intelligence Service (EYP), submitted a 70-page intelligence report to the Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office. The report detailed the operations of a complex protection racket that included brothels, strip clubs, gambling dens, and illegal casinos. The network allegedly offered protection to these establishments for a fee, ensuring that they could operate illegally without interference. According to EYP’s findings, approximately 300 gambling dens, 300 casinos, and 350 brothels paid monthly fees to the racket. Ultimately, 17 people – including former high-ranking police officers – were tried for misdemeanors before the three-member Court of Felonies, as the case was in danger of being dismissed due to the statute of limitations. However, all were acquitted after the court ruled that there was insufficient evidence. During the trial, it was revealed that many of the recorded wiretaps had been conducted illegally, without the required judicial authorization from the supervising EYP prosecutor. In addition, since October, Prosecutor Minas-Alexandros Kaloudis has recommended that eight of the 21 defendants be indicted. They include two retired senior police officers, two lawyers, and several key members of the network. To date, the Judicial Council has yet to rule on the prosecutor’s recommendation.
The policemen and the head of the security department of Kolonos
According to the acquittal decision of the Three-member Criminal Court, active police officers serving in various police stations and security departments – including those of Omonia, Kolonos, Neos Kosmos, Kypseli, Patision and Agios Panteleimonas – were allegedly involved in the racket. These officials reportedly demanded and received part of the protection money collected from illegal establishments.
One of the bribery cases mentioned in the investigation involved a police officer from the Kolonos Security Department. Specifically, one of the defendants – who was later acquitted – was alleged to have offered undisclosed amounts of money to officers of the Kolonos Security Department, including a named senior officer of the Hellenic Police, as well as officers of the Rapid Response Unit. The payments were allegedly made for two main reasons: First, to tip off brothels and illegal studios in Kolonos, Kavala Avenue, and other areas under their jurisdiction about upcoming police inspections, allowing them to evade law enforcement. Second, to prevent on-the-spot inspections, citation,s and legal action against the operators of these establishments. However, the court ruled that the evidence was insufficient to establish guilt. In particular, legally recorded wiretaps by the National Intelligence Agency (EYP) recorded the defendant discussing helping a sex worker obtain a driver’s license without taking an exam and discussing with another person connections to a judicial corruption network. It remains unknown whether any of the illegally obtained EYP wiretaps contained conversations that could have proven the bribery of Kolonos Security Department officers.
The Second Racket and the “Investigative” Officers of Kolonos
In mid-January, the Internal Affairs Department of the Hellenic Police dismantled a second protection racket that used corrupt police officers to cover up brothels and illegal casinos. This network allegedly operated in the same way as the first. According to Data Journalists, one of the members of this second racket was allegedly linked to Dimitris Malamas, the so-called “treasurer” of the earlier network. Malamas was executed in cold blood between 2018 and 2022, during police and judicial investigations into corruption. He was shot dead in October 2019 while sitting in his car at a traffic light on Athinon Avenue in Haidari, when assassins on a motorcycle opened fire with a Kalashnikov. The Internal Affairs investigation also revealed that officers from the Kolonos Security Department allegedly searched the police database for personal information about their colleagues in Internal Affairs, who were investigating the crime. Specifically, they sought details about the two officers who had raided a restaurant where the alleged ringleader had met with a corrupt police officer and confiscated surveillance footage from the scene.
On September 17, 2024, at 4:08 p.m., an on-duty sergeant at the Kolonos Police Station allegedly searched the Hellenic Police database for the license plate number of a vehicle used by Internal Affairs officers. This search allegedly took place shortly after another Kolonos police sergeant, who was also involved in the investigation, met with the alleged leader of the criminal organization.
A few days later, it was the second sergeant’s turn to conduct searches in the police system. On October 3, 2024, between 7:27 a.m. and 7:31 a.m., this sergeant allegedly searched the “Significant Reports” application 14 times for information about an internal affairs officer who had previously visited the restaurant and confiscated surveillance footage.
On the same day, the head of security at Kolonos allegedly conducted similar searches. Between 08:23 and 08:24, the officer allegedly searched the ID application 7 times for information about an Internal Affairs officer. From 08:28 to 08:29, the same officer allegedly searched for the same information 8 more times. In addition, the department head was allegedly in contact with a retired officer who was involved in the network.
At the same time, another Kolonos Security Department officer, a lieutenant, allegedly searched for the Internal Affairs officer’s information. Specifically, at 08:28 on October 3, 2024, the officer allegedly searched once in the Identification application, and then at 08:40 made 8 more searches in the Significant Reports application for the same officer’s details.
The 12-year-old girl from Kolonos, Michos, and her mother’s accusations
Another case that shocked the public and involved reports of connections between Kolonos police officers was the horrific case of the 12-year-old girl exploited by the convicted Ilias Michos.
It was October 2022 when the mother of the 12-year-old girl spoke to Alpha TV. Among other things, the mother reported that when she learned what had happened to her daughter, she went to the Kolonos police station. However, the officers on duty did not accept her complaint.
The mother said, “That same night I went to the Kolonos police station to report it. Something very serious happened and they didn’t accept me right away. I went again the next day and they sent me to GADA (Central Police Headquarters).
The mother is also said to have claimed that Ilias Michos had connections with a police officer working in Kolonos, although this has not been proven. However, the breaking up of the second protection racket involving brothels gave the case a new twist. It turned out that one of the brothels that paid protection money to the racket was the one identified by the 12-year-old girl in the Kolonos pimping case as the place where Ilias Michos exploited her.
This brothel is located at 4 Kassandras Street, near Konstantinopouleos Street, and is allegedly run by a person who, according to the investigations of the Hellenic Police (ELAS), is currently in prison. The women working at the brothel had called this person when officers investigating the Kolonos case raided the premises.
The file on the second racketeering case contains conversations between this individual and a trusted associate in which he gives instructions about Kassandra’s brothel and three others that he allegedly manages. According to the ELAS investigation, the two men are not part of the criminal organization. However, they voluntarily gave money to the criminal organization’s headquarters in exchange for protection.
