The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) opened an investigation in Greece into the powerful spyware ‘Predator’, Euractiv reports.
The news outlet reported on April 4th that sources close to the EU Parliament’s PEGA committee, which tracks the use of spyware in the bloc, asked the EPPO to investigate exports of spyware from Greece to countries outside the EU, along with related tax evasion. According to Euractiv’s source, the EPPO decided to undertake the investigation, though the EPPO would not officially comment on an active investigation.
Greek journalists reported in November 2022 that spyware had been exported illegally from Greece to countries in Asia, Africa, and other continents with the companies involved engaged in tax evasion.
“Lighthouse Reports and its partners Haaretz in Israel and Greece’s Inside Story have been investigating the activities of Intellexa, a spyware firm whose activities spread from Europe across much of the global south,” the report published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz read.
It cited violence-engulfed Sudan as one of the countries that bought spyware from Greece-based company Intellexa, maker of ‘Predator.’
Euractiv also reports that two different sources said the EU prosecutor had received specific information from Greek journalists in recent weeks. One source close to the matter said,
The persons who testified to the prosecutors submitted evidence proving that the administration of (Prime Minister) Kyriakos Mitsotakis facilitated the proliferation of Intellexa’s Predator spyware to countries such as Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Madagascar, and Bangladesh by granting export licences through the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
At first, the Greek government denied any involvement but later said it was investigating whether all the prescribed procedures for the export were correctly followed.
Legally, spyware is subject to Regulation (EU) 2021/821 for so-called ‘dual-use’ products that need a special export licence since they can be used to cause harm. The EPPO is investigating whether the Greek government favoured the Greek company Intellexa in granting the export licence.
Greek journalists have also linked Intellexa’s shareholders with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ nephew Grigoris Dimitriadis, who until August 2022 was also the secretary general of the prime minister’s office and Greece’s spy chief. He resigned last year when the scandal erupted over spyware being used against the government’s political opponent Nikos Androulakis, an MEP and leader of the socialist Pasok party.
The journalistic investigations also revealed a web of interlinked companies connected with Intellexa.
EU prosecutor Laura Kövesi’s team in Athens told Euractiv that they have found evidence of “enormous tax evasion” by the companies involved in the surveillance scandal.
“Undeclared payments, fake invoices and triangular transactions are some of the serious tax crimes which appear to have been committed by the Greek companies Intellexa and Krikel, the Irish company Thalestris, and by the Cypriot companies associated with them,” a source said. “Hundreds of fake invoices and tax statements have been submitted to the European Prosecutor to document fraud and how EU’s interests are affected,” the source added.
The trail leads to Chadera Enterprises Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands, according to Euractiv.
The PEGA special committee started its work in 2021 following investigative reports from a consortium of journalists alleging that governments in several EU countries had used spyware such as the Israel-based ‘Pegasus’ software to spy on citizens, political opponents, and journalists, without adequate cause, and bypassing judicial oversight.
This is the only investigation into the spyware business in Europe beyond the PEGA committee so far, though the committee has previously called on law enforcement to get involved.
Greece is also set for elections on May 21st.
