Greek Police have announced several arrests in a case of an alleged nationwide electricity-theft ring accused of tampering with power meters of businesses and other customers across the country.
The indictment, in fact, cites two well-known seafront restaurants in Athens’ southern coastal district and a religious education NGO among the alleged beneficiaries of electricity theft.
Authorities said five people were arrested in coordinated operations this week, with three identified as primary members of the criminal gang and another 101 individuals and legal entities included in the case file. Investigators say they have so far uncovered 105 criminal acts, including 103 cases of electricity theft and two fraud cases involving the unlawful inflation of recorded power usage, with total damage estimated at 9.16 million euros.
According to police, the group had been active since 2017 and offered illegal interventions on electricity meters on behalf of both private individuals and companies seeking to cut their recorded consumption and lower their power bills. The alleged scheme covered a wide geographic arc, including the greater Athens-Piraeus area, Thessaloniki and parts of northern and central Greece.
Investigators said the network used different methods depending on the type of meter. In older analog meters, members allegedly carried out physical tampering, while in newer digital meters they are accused of installing illegal firmware via specialized optical equipment to alter consumption data and block access to the real readings. In some cases, police said, the interventions were repeated periodically, effectively operating as a subscription-style service for clients.
The case file includes a long list of commercial customers, with authorities focusing on high-consumption businesses such as gas stations, restaurants, internet cafes, food-processing facilities and olive mills. In several cases, the estimated loss per electricity supply reportedly exceeded 100,000 euros. Police said they documented 606 illegal interventions corresponding to 103 electricity-theft cases, while the criminal group’s own profits are estimated at more than 371,000 euros.
Of the three alleged ringleaders, a 52-year-old is described as having a coordinating role and setting the price of the interventions, while two other men, aged 40 and 43, allegedly carried out the technical work and collected payments. Charges in the case include forming and joining a criminal organization, aggravated theft, fraud, obstruction of information systems and weapons-law violations.
Searches of homes and business premises led to the seizure of tools, electrical equipment, lead seals used by the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (HEDNO or ADMIE), items bearing the logos of the Public Power Corp. (PPC) and HEDNO, and nearly 25,000 euros in cash.
The case adds to a broader pattern of energy-related fraud and infrastructure crime in Greece that has drawn increasing scrutiny in recent months. In May, police arrested 20 suspects in central Greece in a separate investigation into a network accused of stealing power transformers from the grid, while earlier this year authorities also targeted a nationwide fuel-pump tampering scheme.
The latest case comes as electricity costs remain a politically sensitive issue and Greece’s grid operators push ahead with modernization and smart-meter upgrades aimed at tightening oversight of consumption and reducing losses.
