The first case – Pan -Hellenic – identification and commitment of cryptocurrencies, as theft products, was announced by Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis with today (24.6.2025) on X (formerly Twitter).
In particular, Kyriakos Pierrakakis visited the Authority of the fight against money laundering with the President of the Authority, Vice -President of the Supreme Court, ET, Charalambos Vourliotis welcoming him, and presented the operational work and was reportedly referring to the operational work.
One of the Authority’s latest successes concerns the market for cryptocurrencies, where, very recently, it has managed to locate and commit a quantity of cryptocurrencies from the largest theft in the history of the $ 1.5 billion industry. An indication of the magnitude and importance of this case is the fact that the Federal Investigation Office (FBI) issued a public announcement (Alert), informing the public of trading.
Last month, after information that came to the beginning, it was found to be a suspected transaction of cryptocurrencies by a registered user on a Greek company platform – exchange provider.
From the following audit, it was found that the user had received a significant amount of money in Ethereum in Ethereum Crypto Wallet, which, as it emerged from the analysis of specially trained analysts of the Authority – using a specialized cryptocurrency analysis tool – came from the largest cryptocurrencies. The incident had taken place at the expense of a well -known cryptocurrency exchange at the beginning of the year and is attributed to a notorious hacking group.
Subsequently, for the above cryptographic wallet (Crypto Wallet) and the criminal product it contained was issued by the Authority, and a relevant findings were transmitted to the competent Public Prosecutor’s Office for the lawful further actions.
For the first time in Greece: Identification and commitment of cryptocurrencies as crime products – in a case associated with the greatest cyberspace in the Crypto sector. pic.twitter.com/I2EuzSz1zn
– Kyriakos pierrakakis (@pierrakakis) June 24, 2025
Items – “Keys” for 2024
The results of the Authority are measurable and highly encouraging, as evidenced by the data presented by Kyriakos Pierrakakis by Mr. Vourliotis. Specifically, in 2024 the Authority has succeeded in the organized financial crime:
- EUR 10 million committed funds expected to be returned to the victims through international cooperation
- 200 asset commitments (bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, etc.)
- The total amount of criminal product exceeded 700m euros, much of which was committed in time
- 30,000 reports of suspicious transactions and information of all kinds.
- Checks in 2,500 natural and 1,500 legal persons in the context of European sanctions for Ukraine
- EUR 3 million Value of bound assets found in Greece and related to sanctions due to the situation in Ukraine
- 170,000 persons liable to wherever you are, with 15,000 cases referred to the competent judicial authorities
Support from the Ministry of Finance
The Ministry of Finance is institutionally and actively supporting the Authority with:
– Legislative initiatives to strengthen its role and function.
– Investments of more than EUR 1 million to upgrade information systems and its technical autonomy:
- 550,000 euros for computer infrastructure
- 500,000 euros to modernize the integrated information system
The Minister of Finance, shortly after meeting with the head of the Authority, Charalambos Vourliotis, said: “The Authority of combating money laundering is the foundation of the national effort to enhance transparency, prevention and suppression. The commitment of amounts derived from criminal actions of more than EUR 700 million within one year proves in practice that institutions can operate with speed, efficiency and transparency. The Ministry of Justice, recognizing its crucial role, institutionally supporting its work. It invests more than € 1m to upgrade its information systems, enhancing its technical autonomy and operational readiness. The Authority is staffed by highly specialized and experienced staff, capable of responding to all challenges – including financial transactions with cryptocurrencies. We ensure institutional and functional guarantees so that the Authority does its work independently, effectively and with constant operational upgrading. “