A newly revealed development surrounding the still-unsolved killing of crime reporter Giorgos Karaivaz emerged this week following the arrests made this week in connection with the murder of a local man known in mob circles as “Thamnákias” – Greek for “βushes”, or one emanating from the bushes – reviving attention on the former case.
According to reports, investigators found a copy of the homicide case file regarding Karaivaz’s assassination inside Giorgos Moschouris’ armored vehicle after he was gunned down in the northern Athens district of Halandri on April 24, 2025. The file had reportedly been compiled two years earlier by Greek Police’s homicide division during the investigation into Karaivaz’s April 2021 killing.
The discovery was first reported on Mega Channel.
Police sources said the case file was located in a side compartment on the driver’s door of the vehicle. Access to such files is generally restricted to defendants and legal representatives, while Moschouris had never officially “surfaced” in the Karaivaz case file.
The revelation comes as authorities intensify their crackdown on organized crime networks linked to contract killings, extortion and surveillance operations. Three Greek nationals alleged to be members of a crime organization were arrested this week by the major crimes division. Prosecutors accuse them of involvement in Moschouris’ assassination, a bomb attack on a business in the far north Athens district of Nea Erythrea in 2024, and illegal surveillance activities.
Police say Moschouris was ambushed outside a well-known diagnostic center in Halandri by gunmen armed with assault rifles. The attackers fled in a stolen vehicle later found burned only a few kilometers away. Authorities allege the suspects operated as part of a organized crime syndicate involved in murders, bombings, thefts and the monitoring of future targets.
Police also announced the seizure of cash, phones, cannabis, GPS tracking devices, routers, surveillance equipment and weapons-related items during coordinated raids in Athens and inside a prison facility.
The Karaivaz murder remains one of Greece’s most high-profile unsolved homicides.
The veteran crime reporter was shot dead outside his home in southern Athens in April 2021 in what authorities described as a professional “contract killing”. Two brothers arrested in 2023 were acquitted in 2024 due to insufficient evidence.
The case has drawn international concern from press freedom organizations, including Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists, both of which have criticized the lack of convictions and urged Greek authorities to continue investigating the masterminds behind the assassination.
