Man jailed for wiretapping PM Papandreou in 1989, arrested again over disturbance

Christos Mavrikis is expected to appear before the prosecutor today, following his arrest at midnight on Monday in Spata, after he had previously shot in the air and set himself on fire in his home. The 71-year-old was eventually located in a nearby field after a three-hour operation by the Hellenic Police and was taken to Attica Police HQ - GADA, where he is being held under arrest.

According to initial information, it all started at 18:40, when the 71-year-old allegedly got into an argument with a man of Albanian origin and fired twice in the air, causing a disturbance in the neighborhood. He then entered his home and locked himself in. A neighbor notified the Hellenic Police, while strong forces of the Hellenic Police cordoned off the area.

The police tried to convince him to surrender, but Mavrikis was not inside the house. After investigations, he was located in a nearby field, approximately 100 meters from his house, where he hid for more than three hours.

He resisted arrest, but was eventually stopped and taken to the General Police Directorate of Attica. He is being held under arrest and is expected to be brought before the prosecutor today. After a search of the house, five stun guns, a flare gun and two air rifles for which he did not have a license were found.

The past of the "master wiretapper"

Christos Mavrikis' name became known in 1989, in the case of telephone wiretapping. As an employee of the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization, he had confessed to having tapped the landline phone of then-Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, on the orders of General Nikos Gryllakis. The interceptions were carried out by placing “bugs” on outdoor telephone switchboards.

In 1998, the Five-Member Athens Court of Appeal found him guilty of attempted extortion to the level of a felony, violation of the confidentiality of telephone conversations and unlawful violence. He was sentenced to five years in prison and taken to Korydallos Prison.

He had also been sentenced in 1997 to 12 months in prison for attempting to bribe the then investigating officer and current president of the Supreme Court, Ioanna Klapa, in a case involving oil smuggling.

The 2025 case and house arrest

In May 2025, Mavrikis was arrested again in Spata, following criminal prosecution for the felony of bribing an Areopagite judge. He had previously been accused of sending a letter to a judicial officer requesting intervention in his professional case in exchange for financial compensation. After an urgent preliminary examination, he was arrested by the autoforo procedure.

For this specific case, he had been placed under house arrest, a request that he had submitted himself and was accepted. The 71-year-old had denied that he had attempted to bribe a judge, citing a misunderstanding.

His new arrest comes in addition to a heavy criminal past, which has made him one of the most well-known – and controversial – figures in corruption and surveillance cases of recent decades.