An overview of the suburb of Kifissia. [Shutterstock]
Authorities have arrested six people in a bribery scheme involving urban planning officials across the Athens region, with investigators saying the network charged up to €30,000 to fix zoning violations and block inspections.
The June 5 arrests followed nearly a year of surveillance after anonymous tips in mid-2024 alleged that municipal employees were accepting payments to overlook violations in restaurants and kiosks. A second complaint, forwarded by the National Transparency Authority, broadened the scope to urban planning offices region-wide.
Police say the network operated primarily through the Kifissia Building Authority and the Central Athens Architectural Council. At the center, investigators allege, was a married couple: the general secretary of Galatsi municipality, who also chaired the Central Athens Architectural Council, and a technical adviser to the Attica Decentralized Administration, formerly the longtime head of Kifissia’s planning office.
Suspects used code words – “coffee,” “tools,” “plans,” and “papers” – in intercepted communications, and demanded cash handovers inside cars or parking lots. Searches of homes and offices yielded €334,895 in cash, computers, mobile phones, handwritten notes, and a bank safe-deposit box rental agreement.
