Names and addresses of certain individuals of the “Mykonos mafia”, who act in an organised manner around the tourist activity of the island, are at the disposal of the prosecuting authorities. The action of these circuits was highlighted by the murder of the surveyor Panagiotis Stathis, since all the evidence gathered so far indicates that the motive of the person who ordered the execution of the 54-year-old is related to real estate on the island. This particular sector is even becoming a new field of action for organized gangs, with Mykonos and other Cycladic islands following the lead.
The arrest of the 44 year old man who was remanded in custody after his plea for the murder of Panagiotis Stathis leads to specific paths in the search for the mastermind and already three persons who met the victim on their professional route in Mykonos have been put in the frame. However, the police are acting with patience and without haste, as the investigation has opened up on many levels.
The first evidence is expected from forensic laboratories, from the mobile phones and communications of the accused, and from the analysis of videos and other material already collected in the first part of the investigation that has already led to the arrest of the 44-year-old.
He continues to deny any involvement in the crime, but the evidence already against him was deemed sufficient by the judiciary to decide to remand him in custody. The accused allegedly claims that the traces of gunpowder found on his belt are related to the fact that he is a marksman, while the testimony of a person who will give him an alibi for the crucial time when the 54-year-old surveyor was murdered is announced from his side.
The second front is the investigations by the Black Money Laundering Authority. Initially it had intervened to check the financial data of the victim and persons professionally related to him and subsequently, after the arrest of the 44-year-old accused as the killer, his personal financial transactions and data are being investigated, along with another person allegedly belonging to the circle of contacts of both the perpetrator and the victim.
The third front – which is considered the most crucial – is the investigation conducted by the Organized Crime Unit, under the supervision of the competent prosecutor, following the order of the Supreme Court prosecutor Georgia Adilini on the occasion of the Stathis murder.
This order, based on evidence and complaints, some of which were made to the Security from mouths that opened after the crime in Neos Psychiko, in essence treats the murder of the surveyor as a piece in a wider puzzle of criminal activities with Mykonos as the “matrix” and the main field of action no longer “protection” in restaurants and leisure shops, drug trafficking and prostitution, but real estate.
Moreover, specific real estate transactions on the island by the 54-year-old surveyor have come under scrutiny. According to current information, these properties are considered “prime pieces” that others have also eagerly sought to acquire.
The victim, the surveyor Panagiotis Stathis
In fact, the investigation is headed by Mr. Fotis Tzelepis, an officer who knows Mykonos and its “mishaps” well, since he is the same officer who three years ago was selected by Mr. Michael Chrysochoidis in his previous term of office at the Ministry of Citizen Protection to organize policing in Mykonos and to deal with the uncontrolled action of local mafias. Now, Mr Tzelepis is in charge of the Organized Crime Unit at the Attica Security Service and his knowledge of the human geography of the Windward Island gives him a time advantage for the development of the investigation.
Already, however, files concerning cases of beatings of persons active in the real estate sector have been retrieved. The surveyor had also been a victim of a beating and now this attack is being “read” by the police as a warning to the man who has now been murdered. In the same context, the interest of the police was again attracted by the brutal beating of a real estate entrepreneur on the island. In fact, the physical perpetrator was the Albanian prisoner in Korydallos Prison who was murdered days ago by a fellow inmate during a fight.
So far, there is no evidence to suggest that the two murders are connected in any way. The expansion of the ‘Mykonos mafia’ into the building – construction business and property sales is not entirely new. After all, the island’s Town Planning Department has been closed down twice before, with its responsibilities being transferred to Syros after cases of widespread corruption were found.
