Espionage case: A woman is the shadow figure who recruited the air force colonel

Revelations continue to emerge regarding the individuals playing leading roles in the espionage case in which a 54-year-old air force colonel is accused of leaking military secrets to China.

In this espionage thriller, beyond the officer of the Hellenic Air Force, more individuals appear to be involved and are under close scrutiny by the authorities.

They even estimate that the spy network is structured like a pyramid, at the top of which is not the air force officer but the “shadow figure” who recruited him and persuaded him to sell state secrets.

According to information from ERTnews, the shadow figure is reportedly a woman. She is a woman with no connection to the military and holds a very senior role within the pyramid of spies.

The Chinese spy and the material from the meeting in Greece

This woman was also present at the meeting that took place in Athens in 2025, where the air force colonel met face to face with the Chinese spy.

Teams from the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (GEETHA) and the National Intelligence Service (EYP) have in their possession photographs showing this woman with the specific man. The authorities are investigating whether the woman was the one who approached and recruited the air force colonel, as well as when and in what manner she met the Chinese spy.

Moreover, as reported by ERT, the surname of the Chinese agent is not Chinese, but American.

On the day when teams from EYP and GEETHA carried out the sudden search of the colonel’s office, a young officer was also present, specialising in network security from the GEETHA Directorate of Cybersecurity.

According to the same information, it was he who, when the second phone was discovered, managed to recover the deleted files of the Chinese spy.

The authorities are now turning their attention to the person to whom the Chinese spy was sending the classified information.

What classified information the air force colonel had access to

The 54-year-old, as an air force colonel, stood at the intersection of operational action and the highest military leadership. As such, he had access to operational plans, response plans such as the procedures that the Armed Forces must follow in the event of a crisis, the list of enemy targets, as well as the deployment of forces.

At the same time, he was aware of information regarding technical specifications and weapons systems, radar frequencies, jamming codes, and could also have knowledge of stockpiles, such as the number of missiles the country possesses. He may also have had access to aerial imagery and signals intelligence, meaning data from the country’s unmanned aerial vehicles or satellites regarding the movements of the opposing side.

Finally, as a NATO evaluator, he could have had access to encrypted communications between allied forces as well as to joint action plans.

The trip to Beijing and the Chinese handler

The colonel’s contact with his Chinese handler took place in Beijing in 2024. The trip was private; however, military personnel are obliged to inform their units. The fact that he had not done so rendered him suspicious of espionage.

In 2025, he attended a conference in another European country and made an intermediate stop in Athens for a few hours, where the two men met.

It is being investigated whether, at that meeting, the Armed Forces officer handed over classified military documents. As emerged from the EYP investigation, at the end of 2024 the accused had travelled to Beijing to attend a foreign language seminar.

In Beijing, he met his handler — a Chinese agent — with whom, according to information, he was in almost daily contact.

The Chinese spy presented himself to the colonel as a businessman and, after gaining his trust, gradually began asking him for classified documents from his service. At one of the meetings in Beijing, he also gave him the “shadow phone”, equipped with encrypted applications.

According to information from ERT, the payments were made via an encrypted application installed on the shadow phone. The transfers were in euros, dollars and cryptocurrencies.

In the first stage of the investigation, monthly and quarterly transfers ranging from €5,000 to €15,000 were identified on his phone, depending on the classification level of the confidential documents, while larger sums cannot be ruled out as the investigation progresses.

The 54-year-old air force colonel cooperated with the authorities and provided significant information about his relationship with the Chinese handler, who according to him is between 40 and 45 years old, when financial transactions and photographs with military documents were found on his second phone.

It is recalled that the 54-year-old air force colonel of the Hellenic Air Force, who is accused of leaking military secrets to China, is being held at the Air Court and will give his statement on Tuesday.