Hellenic Police have arrested 17 people, including nine active-duty members of the armed forces, in connection with an unauthorised crypto investment platform accused of collecting more than $8 million from at least 10,000 participants since 2025. The arrests were reported on October 2, 2026.
According to Hellenic Police, the scheme promised investors their capital would double within 50 days, a return profile typical of unregistered investment products that regulators across Europe have repeatedly flagged as unsustainable. The network operated out of offices in Katerini, Thessaloniki, Larissa, Patras, and an island in the Dodecanese, with searches extending to five offices and nine homes, plus other premises.
The involvement of serving military personnel adds a distinct dimension to the case. Nine of those arrested are active-duty soldiers, and according to ERT News, the case file includes nine additional Greek suspects, among them another member of the armed forces. ERT News also reported that two non-commissioned officers allegedly held leadership roles within the network, though the precise nature of those roles has not been detailed.
Seizures and scale
Police seized 295,090 euros in cash during the raids, along with 32 cell phones, 28 computers, 15 tablets, 38 USB storage devices and 16 storage units. Bank cards and a banknote-counting machine were also recovered, suggesting a cash-handling operation of some scale alongside the platform's digital infrastructure.
Despite the platform's claimed reach of at least 10,000 participants and more than $8 million in collected funds, investigators have so far officially identified only 18 victims, whose combined losses total 55,970 euros. The gap between the scheme's reported scale and the number of confirmed victims reflects the early stage of the investigation; it remains unclear whether the broader pool of participants suffered losses or whether some received payouts before the operation was shut down.
What happens next
The suspects were brought before the Katerini prosecutor, who has transferred the case to an investigating judge. The platform is reported to have been active since at least 2025, meaning authorities will need to trace more than a year of transactions and recruitment activity across the five cities where the network maintained a presence.
The case underscores a recurring pattern in unauthorised crypto investment schemes across Europe: promises of fixed, rapid returns, a geographically dispersed office structure, and recruitment that, in this instance, appears to have reached into the ranks of the armed forces. Greek authorities have not disclosed further details on how the two non-commissioned officers allegedly identified as leaders came to occupy those positions within the network.
