“The harder you fall the stronger you rise.” This is the favorite motto of George Petzetakis, the heir of a business empire that collapsed, who has been missing for 13 years.

And this is because, in his obvious view, it reflects his personal course and adventure, from the “golden days” of an indulgent life, villas in Greece and abroad, expensive cars, constant presence in Athens’ high society, to the clumsy fall, the arrest for debts, the conviction in absentia and the flight abroad, where he remains wanted under international warrants.

To VIMA today reveals details of this new life of George Petzetakis, as they emerge from journalistic investigation and from his own posts on social media.

According to information, the man in whose hands the “bomb” of the once-powerful, internationalized Petzetakis plastics industry exploded continues to be active entrepreneurially in the same sector of the market, namely plastics, and appears to move with characteristic ease in various parts of the world, from New York, Paris and Lisbon to Cairo.

By all indications, the fugitive businessman lives and reigns in the United States and, indeed, as is shown by the online pages he follows, he also appears politically active, being among the supporters of Donald Trump.

Essentially, however, he is a citizen of the world, as he travels frequently for professional reasons as well as for leisure to various places. Among them are France, Spain—with visits to Madrid, Barcelona and also the popular Ibiza—Portugal, Egypt, etc.

More specifically, from what he himself has posted on social media, it emerges that he leads a comfortable to even luxurious life, combining his business activities with expensive restaurants and bars in popular European destinations. High on his preferences are Spain and the exotic beach Playa de Ses Salines in Ibiza, as well as some of the famous entertainment venues of this resort, such as “UNVRS,” which opened this summer, Playa de San Juan and Costa Blanca in Alicante, the ever-cosmopolitan Paris, Barcelona, and “Gatsby,” a well-known club-cabaret where the minimum consumption at a VIP table is €250 per person.

It is also worth mentioning—and is “certified” by relevant photos—that George Petzetakis maintains excellent physical condition, as he devotes considerable time to sports, such as his favorite beach volleyball.

He appears particularly familiar with all these places, accompanying some of the photos with corresponding sayings. “If it feels like home, even if it is far away from it, then it is your home,” he writes in one of them.

In plastics

After his flight from Greece, George Petzetakis appears to have continued his involvement in the plastics sector in which Petzetakis had excelled while his father and founder was still alive.

Thus, according to what is stated on his personal LinkedIn page, he has been a co-founder of United Plastics Inc.—with reference to the metropolitan area of New York in the U.S.—from May 2015 to the present. At the same time, since September 2015 he also declares himself co-founder of United Plastics SA, which is said to operate in the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince.

Furthermore, his previous experience in the bankrupt family group is recorded: as CEO from March 1998 to January 2006, as non-executive chairman from January 2006 to March 2011, as well as chairman of the board of Petzetakis Africa Ltd, based in Pretoria, South Africa, from May 2001 to January 2009.

Also striking are his “check-in” posts via Facebook—inasmuch as they can be considered reliable—which include Lisbon on August 31, Sunset Beach on Shelter Island in New York on July 15, and the area of Voula on August 14. Facebook also hosts some videos from this past summer with images from secluded beaches of Skiathos and Alonissos, as well as from a residence with a swimming pool in Skiathos, without Petzetakis himself appearing in them.

His posts

His latest Facebook post on December 5 concerns the anniversary of the death of Nelson Mandela on December 5, 2013, with whom he maintained a personal relationship. It is characteristic that his photo with the legendary leader of South Africa is central on his page. This relationship dated back to 2001 and the acquisition of a production unit in Pretoria, which made him a significant investor in the country and an interlocutor of Nelson Mandela.

In this last post, among other things, he writes: “Today, Africa and the global community pay tribute on the anniversary of the late President NM who passed away on December 5, 2013, after receiving, among other honors, the Nobel Peace Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. When one encounters difficulties in life, it may help to think about what NM went through in his life.”

Other posts are dominated by his visits to various places. Thus, on September 30 he was in Paris, commenting: “Paris signifies—beyond its historical, cultural and economic importance—class and elegance, and it is no wonder why. It was a privilege to be here again, even for a short stay.”

As emerges from the photos, he visited the Louvre Museum, the Eiffel Tower—where he accompanied the stunning view with a glass of champagne—and other popular spots of the French capital. At the end of August he was in Portugal, which he considers to have “proven to be a relatively attractive base for production within the EU and additionally an excellent platform for expansion into Portuguese-speaking countries around the world. If you can combine business with a bit of free time it is great, because the Algarve is a coastal paradise.”

On August 14 he posted a photo of his late mother, Kyriaki, with the message: “MOM, it has been 3 years since you left and there is not a day or a night that I don’t think of you. We love you forever.”

One month earlier, on July 15, he was in the famous Hamptons. “The Hamptons of Long Island are famous as a destination for affluent New Yorkers and are truly an amazing escape from busy New York City. For me, its beauty and class are based on the simplicity of its people and its shops, as well as its spectacular nature,” he commented.

In June he had traveled to Cairo for professional reasons, stating: “The beginning of a ‘new era’? The team is ready anyway. Cairo is famous for its historical sites, but it can be a stable base for launching production under certain conditions.”

Through social media, G. Petzetakis also maintains a channel of communication with friends in Greece with whom he exchanges messages.

The conviction and the flight

Nevertheless, it is puzzling how a person convicted in absentia by Greek Justice and subsequently wanted travels and moves with such ease to so many European and non-European destinations.

It is recalled that in November 2011, the prosecutor then responsible for tax evasion matters issued an arrest warrant for the businessman due to his debts, amounting to €2.1 million to the State, and the police officers of the Financial Police were immediately ordered to take appropriate action. According to information from the time, the police monitored George Petzetakis for two days, as they did not want to arrest him while he was with his family. Thus, on the morning of November 15, as he was going for coffee with a friend in Vouliagmeni, he was arrested and transferred to GADA. Auditors of the SDOE found that he was constantly arranging settlements of his debts to the tax authorities, without, however, paying the installments. Debts also existed to employees who had gone on work stoppage, as well as to suppliers.

In his testimony, George Petzetakis argued that the amount of €2.1 million concerned the period 2007–2010, during which he was not the executive chairman of the company and did not have signing authority, while he invoked serious operational problems of the business.

The prosecutor filed criminal charges for non-payment of debts to the State and referred him to trial. On May 9, 2012, he was arrested again by the Financial Police for non-payment of social security contributions to IKA amounting to €252,294.

On September 28, 2012, the Second Summary Three-Member Misdemeanor Court sentenced him to 10 years in prison without suspension for debts to the State approaching €4 million. He did not appear in court, while his lawyer stated that he would file a request for suspension of execution of the sentence and an appeal against the conviction.

On October 19, 2012, the request for suspension of the sentence was accepted. Specifically, through his lawyer he submitted a request for suspension of execution of the sentence, which was accepted, and thus until the case was heard at second instance he would be free—on the condition that he appear once a month at a police station.

In his application, Petzetakis emphasized, among other things, that his imprisonment would lead to the definitive financial collapse of the company and his family. He also stated that the company was close to concluding an agreement with an investor which, if completed, would secure the 300 jobs of its employees and allow it to repay its debts to the State. He was obviously referring to the last-ditch attempt to save the group through Concritech, which ultimately failed.

Since then, George Petzetakis has “disappeared,” with information saying that he fled abroad…

A great history

Petzetakis was the first Greek multinational that, in its time, reached heights as high as no other domestic company, only to be followed by a painful collapse.

The Hellenic Plastics and Rubber Industry, Aristovoulos G. Petzetakis S.A., founded in 1960, was the personal creation of Aristovoulos Petzetakis, a man who through his inventiveness and patents opened the horizons of international markets for his company, and who was described by international publications such as Time and the Financial Times as a “front-line inventor.”

A sui generis personality, he was always close to the workers while he lived—and even… after he passed away. People who worked at his factory in Kallithea still remember that every Christmas he accompanied his wishes with gold sovereigns, asking them not to reveal how many each received.

And when he died, he left the staff a percentage of the company, which some estimate at 7% and others at over 20%.

He started from a modest workshop manufacturing rubber components that his father set up in Moschato. Aristovoulos studied chemical engineering and when he took over the small workshop he transformed it into an industrial group spoken of worldwide. At just 37 years old, he was already enjoying the glory and financial benefits of international recognition. The main vehicle of success was the creation of the flexible elastic plastic pipe Heliflex, as well as the machine and molds for its production.

In the mid-1960s, the Heliflex pipe immediately replaced the rubber pipe that dominated water supply, irrigation and agriculture.

Soon he began securing international patents, which were later licensed to multinational giants such as Goodyear, Pirelli, Dunlop, etc.

At its peak, his company had subsidiaries in 22 countries, while at the same time granting the right to use its patents to industrial giants of the era in exchange for high royalties.

The triumphant course continued until 1973. Then, the sudden death of Aristovoulos Petzetakis at the age of just 50 from a heart attack was the decisive event that marked the beginning of the end. His natural successor, his son George, was only 9 years old. He took the reins in 1986, after completing his studies at Boston College and postgraduate studies at the London School of Economics and Harvard, at the age of 23.

In the interim, relatives, advisors and investment funds had occupied the management chairs and the cash register, leaving nothing standing. Successive expansions without strategy and waste formed an explosive cocktail.

Thus, it is a fact that George Petzetakis initially sat on an electric chair. During his period as well, acquisitions continued, but with borrowed money, which proved mistaken, while competition intensified and the lucrative patents expired…

Debts skyrocketed, and to cover them he went so far as to sell the family mansion in Kefalari and other assets, such as—shortly before disappearing in 2011—a 1,514 sq.m. villa in Florida for $1.5 million.

Nothing, however, could any longer keep the company standing.

In 2008, when the international crisis began, he was forced to turn to the Swiss fund Javes Services, which took over management promising financing of €25 million—money that never entered the group’s coffers.

In 2010 the share was placed under surveillance, three bond loans totaling €122 million were called in, liabilities were increasing at dizzying rates (€154 million), while accumulated losses (€229 million) had already created quicksand.

At the same time, the group’s 11 production units and extensive sales network in 70 countries, in Europe, America and the Middle East, were lost amid fierce competition from Asian companies and the conditions that were shaking the global economy at the time.

From salons to battle

The adventure of Petzetakis also changed the life of its natural successor. George Petzetakis was the fifth child of the family after his four sisters Popi, Maria, Sissy and Rena. Raised among salons, from his student days at Moraitis School he enjoyed the privileges of the scion of one of the wealthiest families, spending his free time at well-known ski destinations in winter and summer, and on holidays at the family villa in Kanapitsa, Skiathos, and other resorts.

At some point he fell in love with Italian Gabriella Calini. They married and had four children, two girls and two boys, and also… a permanent place in the society columns. Their life flowed like a fairy tale with luxury residences in the southern suburbs, expensive cars, trips, receptions, parties and nightclubs. During the period of plenty he was minimally involved with the company, while she increasingly penetrated—also as co-founder and president of the Make a Wish organization—into the circles of Athens’ high society. Nevertheless, George Petzetakis remained simple and friendly, having everywhere… only friends.

When the fall began, especially from 2010 onward, he was constantly at the company’s offices on Syngrou Avenue, drove a mid-sized car and generally “disappeared” from the social hotspots. At the same time, rumors began circulating about problems in his marriage. Its fate is unknown, as is his own… Gabriella Calini Petzetakis, however, appears to have been working since 2018 as Business Development Manager at GH&Partners, a design and project management company specializing in the organization and layout of luxury spaces worldwide, based in Milan.

The bankruptcy

Against the backdrop of personal stories, the definitive end of the emblematic industry was being written.

The group was officially declared bankrupt in December 2015, and its units and other assets began to be auctioned. In this context, after several unsuccessful attempts, the central factory in Elaionas, Boeotia, was acquired in October 2022 by Cenergy for €7.36 million and has now been transformed into an ultra-modern cable production unit of Hellenic Cables.

In June 2023, this was followed by the apartment, with an area of 220 sq.m., in Ano Voula, which was declared as the residence of G. Petzetakis. It was put up with a minimum price of €1.23 million but fetched more than double, being awarded at €2.88 million.

The son’s ordeal and “Faros”

The family’s ordeals continued, with the most prominent being the involvement of Aris Petzetakis, son of George, in the case of the death of 47-year-old Greek-American businessman Leonardo Sitina in March 2020. The bloody incident took place at the luxury residential complex “Faros” in Kavouri, when the young scion got into a fight with Sitina, punching him in the mouth. A few hours later the businessman died and Petzetakis was arrested.

In the summer of 2021 he was sentenced to seven years in prison without mitigating circumstances, but was released as his request that the appeal have a suspensive effect was accepted.

For this specific luxury residential complex “Faros Kavouri,” located in one of the most isolated and well-guarded spots of the Athens Riviera, next to the Astir Vouliagmeni and the Air Force base, there is also a next “episode.”

As To VIMA reveals, against George Petzetakis son of Aristovoulos and Kyriaki, referred to as “former resident of Voula, Attica, Aktis Street no. 29 and now of unknown residence,” another auction is being scheduled for July 8, 2026, with Cepal as the enforcing party.

In it, the right of lifelong usufruct of two separate and independent horizontal properties (apartments) of the “Faros” complex will be auctioned.

The first consists of a hall, three main rooms, kitchen, bathroom and veranda, and has an area of 78.80 sq.m.

The second, which is a maisonette, consists of a basement and ground floor, with a hall, kitchen and storage in the basement, two main rooms, bathroom and veranda on the ground floor. It has an area of 35.10 sq.m. per level, with an additional balcony on the first floor of 8.19 sq.m. and sea view. The starting prices for the right of lifelong usufruct have been set at €192,600 for the first residence and €138,000 for the second (maisonette).