Crete: How the extortionist family spread terror – 40 Victims, €580,000 in Illegal “Profits”

The alleged criminal group, accused of operating in areas of Heraklion and Rethymno, is now facing justice after allegedly establishing a climate of intimidation and illegally obtaining agricultural subsidies through extortion, land seizures, and violent acts targeting landowners and livestock breeders.

The investigation into the family from Voriza, Heraklion — accused of spreading fear and devastation among farmers, landowners, and livestock breeders in the village of Sata, Amari, Rethymno — began following a prosecutor’s order issued in April 2025 and an inquiry conducted by the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime into complaints and information received by authorities.

Both the intelligence gathered and the complaints filed pointed to an uncle and his nephews, livestock breeders from Voriza, who were allegedly involved in numerous criminal acts and acts of vandalism against owners of agricultural properties in the wider Sata area.

The investigation, analysis of their methods, witness testimonies, and other special investigative actions reportedly revealed that the three main suspects had formed a criminal gang and acted systematically to deliberately impose a regime of terror in the area through violence, threats, and other criminal activities against residents of neighboring villages.

According to investigators, they enriched themselves by unlawfully seizing or appropriating agricultural plots to which they had no legal claim and by financially exploiting the uncontrolled grazing of their sheep on other people’s land without payment or by cultivating parts of these lands for grain production without the owners’ consent.

Their actions allegedly caused extensive damage to both tree and non-tree crops, with losses estimated to far exceed €200,000.

Authorities say the illegal financial gain was achieved through the territorial expansion of their professional and property-related activities, the unlawful appropriation of agricultural plots that did not belong to them, some of which were even falsely declared as privately owned in the Property Registry, the cultivation of grain on land used to feed their livestock, the expansion of their herds and corresponding increase in state subsidies, the reduction of the high cost of animal feed purchases, and the gradual involvement of younger family members in the same illegal activities, leading to the creation of new livestock units and the exponential expansion of their unlawful operations.

As part of the investigation, authorities established the involvement of the three suspects, along with three additional individuals accused of livestock theft, in felony extortion against at least 40 victims, owners of agricultural land, from 2021 to the present day.

All suspects were arrested during a police operation in Crete, while the uncle was located and arrested outside the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, where he had reportedly gone for health reasons.

Among other offenses, the suspects, together with the three alleged livestock thieves,  are implicated in the arson of a vehicle in Fourfouras, Amari, Rethymno.

The uncle and his nephews are also accused of damaging another person’s property by cutting down 400 grapevine plants in a vineyard belonging to one of the uncle’s relatives using electric pruning tools, allegedly in retaliation because the victim had refused to lease them a plot of land and had filed complaints against them over agricultural damages.

In another incident, the uncle and his nephews allegedly damaged farmland in December 2022 in the Lagoudi area of Sata, Amari, destroying 134 olive trees with wood-chipping machinery in what authorities describe as an act of revenge, resulting in the complete destruction of the olive grove.

Investigators also found that the six defendants and one of their wives falsely declared two agricultural plots in Sata as privately owned in the OSDΕ agricultural registry in 2022, while the nephews falsely declared livestock facilities in the same area as their own, allegedly with the aim of acquiring ownership through adverse possession and securing illegal subsidies.

Furthermore, authorities uncovered illegal activity involving both the suspects and their spouses through the submission of false OSDΕ declarations for livestock they did not actually possess, with the alleged aim of unlawfully obtaining EU agricultural subsidies.

Cross-checks carried out during the investigation revealed that the arrested suspects and their equally accused wives had submitted inaccurate OSDΕ declarations between 2021 and 2025. Authorities identified strong indications that the declared livestock units were fictitious, both regarding the grazing land supposedly occupied and the actual physical presence of the declared animals, as well as their financial viability.

As a result, the suspects are alleged to have illegally received a total of €586,498.73 in financial aid from European Union funds through OPEKEPE.