Greek Police have released details of a criminal organisation accused of carrying out large-scale electricity theft by tampering with analogue and digital meters across much of the country.

Five people involved in the crime ring have been arrested in connection with the case, including three alleged core members of the group. A case file has also been formed against another 101 individuals and legal entities.

According to the Hellenic Police statement, investigators have so far identified 606 cases of illegal tampering with electricity meters, involving 103 cases of electricity theft. The total financial loss is estimated at €9,163,354, while the organisation is believed to have made at least €371,000 from its activities.

Police said the group had also developed the ability to monitor electricity supply data remotely, allowing its members to track consumption figures, meter activations and deactivations, and other technical details relating to the supplies they had altered.

Police operation and charges

The Northern Greece Sub-Directorate for Combating Organised Crime said it had dismantled a criminal organisation whose members were systematically involved in large-scale electricity theft and illegal tampering with analogue and digital meters operated by HEDNO, Greece’s electricity distribution network operator.

The activity covered areas of Attica, Thessaloniki, Serres, Kilkis, Chalkidiki, Kavala, Pella, Imathia, Pieria, Evros, Xanthi, Larissa, Trikala and Elis.

The five arrests were made during a coordinated police operation carried out early on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in areas of Thessaloniki. The operation was led by officers from the Property Crimes Bureau of the Department for the Prosecution and Investigation of Crimes Against Life and Property, with support from several other units of the Northern Greece organised crime directorate.

The suspects face charges, as applicable, of forming and participating in a criminal organisation, aggravated theft, fraud, theft, obstruction of information systems, aggravated damage to digital data committed jointly and repeatedly, and violations of firearms legislation.

How the meter tampering worked

According to police, a months-long investigation conducted with the relevant departments of HEDNO found that the three core members had formed a structured and continuously active criminal group from at least 2017.

The group is accused of carrying out illegal interventions on HEDNO’s analogue and digital electricity meters in most regions of Greece, on behalf of individuals and businesses that held electricity supply contracts.

The aim of the interventions was to reduce the amount of electricity recorded compared with the actual consumption. This allowed the users to benefit from lower bills, while also generating illegal income for the organisation. Police said the method varied depending on the type of meter.

In analogue meters, the group allegedly used unauthorised interventions such as jumpers, splitters, alterations to coils, broken seals, isolation of voltage wires and coil interference. These interventions significantly reduced the electricity consumption recorded by the meters.

In EDMIATLAS-type digital meters, the method was more technically advanced. Police said the group used illegal firmware installed in the body of the meter through a special optical probe. This gave them unauthorised access to the meter’s software and to HEDNO’s telemetry information system, through which electricity consumption data is transmitted online.

The group then allegedly entered scaling factors and time parameters into the meter software, predetermining both the percentage reduction in recorded consumption and the duration of the tampering. As a result, false consumption data was recorded and transmitted to HEDNO’s telemetry centre.

Police said the long-term use of this software repeatedly altered transmitted data and disrupted the operation of HEDNO’s telemetry system. It also prevented the relevant departments from accessing the real electricity consumption figures for the affected accounts.

A ‘subscription’ model for electricity theft

In many cases, police said the tampering was periodic. Members of the group allegedly returned on a monthly, quarterly or six-monthly basis to update the scaling factors and other parameters that determined how much consumption was hidden.

According to investigators, this gave the operation the characteristics of a “subscription service” and ensured a continuing flow of illegal revenue.

Police also said the members had developed the ability to remotely monitor electricity supply data, including consumption levels, meter activations and deactivations, and technical information linked to the tampered connections.

Illegal software tampering was found in 88 digital meters. The manufacturer of the meters described the case as the most sophisticated incident detected internationally among more than two million meters of the same type in operation worldwide, police said.

Because of the novelty and technical complexity of the software used, a special diagnostic tool was developed to detect this type of tampering.

Photovoltaic installations also targeted

The investigation also found that the organisation’s activity was not limited to electricity theft.

In two cases involving photovoltaic installations, police said the purpose of the tampering was not to reduce recorded consumption, but to artificially increase the amount of electricity reported as generated. The aim was to secure illegal financial gain for those involved. The exact financial impact of these two cases remains under investigation.

The roles of the three core members

Police said the organisation’s members had clearly defined roles.

A 52-year-old man allegedly had a coordinating role, giving instructions to other members on the illegal tampering of electricity meters. He is also accused of acting as the principal perpetrator, particularly in cases involving digital meters, and of setting the payments received from the consumers who benefited from the interventions.

A 40-year-old man allegedly had a mainly operational role and was responsible for carrying out the illegal tampering. Police said he also acted, when needed, as an intermediary, passing on the 52-year-old’s instructions to members who carried out interventions on meters.

A 43-year-old man allegedly had a purely operational role, carrying out meter tampering and collecting payments from consumers.

High-consumption businesses among affected accounts

According to police, a significant number of the affected accounts belonged to businesses with high energy consumption, including petrol stations, restaurants, internet cafés, meat-processing plants, food and dairy-processing facilities, and olive mills.

Investigators also found cases involving common ownership or family links between the individuals and businesses involved, as well as a chronological sequence in the illegal activity.

In several cases, the damage caused by unrecorded electricity exceeded €100,000 per connection. So far, 606 cases of illegal meter tampering have been identified, including 103 cases of electricity theft. The total financial loss is estimated at €9,163,354.

Police also identified two cases of fraud involving the illegal inflation of reported electricity generation from photovoltaic installations. The financial impact of those cases has not yet been determined. The criminal organisation is estimated to have made at least €371,000 from the illegal activity.

Two business owners arrested during inspections

During inspections carried out by HEDNO teams at electricity connections, shops and businesses examined as part of the investigation, two electricity theft cases were detected on the spot. The legal representatives and owners of the businesses involved were arrested.

In one case, police said an electricity supply that had been disconnected since 2019 had been reconnected without authorisation and was being used to power businesses. The estimated loss in that case is €65,775.

In the second case, an illegal bypass of a business’s three-phase meter was found. Police said this resulted in 6,532 kWh of electricity going unrecorded, causing a financial loss of €4,401. The suspects and the case file compiled against them were brought before the competent prosecuting authority.