Pizza Fan: Secret hiding place containing €1.1 million discovered in owner’s villa – Gold, jewelry and luxury vehicles seized

The number of arrests made so far in the operation carried out by the Financial Crimes Investigation Subdirectorate of the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (DAOE) in connection with the Pizza Fan case has risen to 22.

Of those arrested, nine or ten are believed to form the core of the criminal organization, including the company’s owner, his second-in-command, accountants, a software developer and store managers.

The remaining suspects are managers of stores that have been inspected so far within the company’s franchise network, which comprises 100 outlets across Greece. Investigations into the network are ongoing.

All stores had been equipped with the same cash register software, developed by a single programmer. According to telephone conversations intercepted by the authorities, the company’s owner would cut off store managers who refused to use the software or pressure them into complying.

The criminal organization is suspected of having failed to pay at least €25 million in value-added tax (VAT) to the Greek state. The alleged scheme appears to have been operating since 2022, while searches of homes and business premises are being conducted in cooperation with the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.

The Secret Room and the Hidden Fortune

Officers from the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime were stunned when they discovered a secret room concealed inside the dressing room of the Pizza Fan owner’s residence.

An entire wardrobe containing the owner’s clothes could be moved aside, revealing a hidden room where officers discovered €1.1 million in cash, along with a large quantity of gold items, jewelry and other valuables.

An additional €100,000 in cash has been found and seized during searches of the other suspects’ homes. Luxury cars, jewelry and a substantial amount of evidence have also been confiscated.

The Scheme and the Special Software

The method allegedly used to conceal actual revenue across the entire pizza restaurant network relied on special software installed in the cash registers.

Stores would receive customer orders but would not finalize the transactions through their cash register systems.

In addition, the programmer had incorporated a special function into the cash register software labeled “complimentary.”

Most customers who paid in cash, either in-store or when placing orders, were issued receipts marked “complimentary.” As a result, the business appeared to generate no revenue from those transactions, meaning that no VAT was collected by the state.

The full amount was instead accumulated by the criminal organization, primarily benefiting its owner, who allegedly enjoyed enormous profit margins at the expense of the Greek state.

Police have also uncovered a concealed electronic accounting database — effectively the organization’s “black books” — which investigators are now analyzing to determine the total profits generated by the alleged scheme.