Six people charged with bribery for construction-related issues in urban-planning-related civil services of the Region of Attica were testifying before a corruption investigator on Tuesday.
The six include five civil servants and a privately working engineer. They are accused of using their positions to resolve outstanding issues related to licensing and fines, among others, in exchange for money.
Authorities have arrested six people in the bribery scheme involving urban planning officials across the Athens region, with investigators saying the network charged up to €30,000 to fix zoning violations and block inspections.
According to the case file, the ring was led by a couple with key positions in the central administration and local self-government services.
Police said that the network operated primarily through the Kifissia Building Authority and the Central Athens Architectural Council. At the center, investigators allege, was a married couple: the general secretary of Galatsi municipality, who also chaired the Central Athens Architectural Council, and a technical adviser to the Attica Decentralized Administration, formerly the longtime head of Kifissia’s planning office.
The two key defendants were allegedly responsible for setting the group’s strategy, coordinating their contact network, and settling the price list for resolving issues including the following: illegal or priority issuing of building permits, resolving illegal structures, reducing fines, and other related construction-related issues.
The charges, per case, include setting up and participating in a criminal ring, bribing civil servants repeatedly, breach of duty, money laundering, and trading in influence.
The arrests on June 5 have reportedly followed nearly a year of surveillance after anonymous tips in mid-2024 alleged that municipal employees were accepting payments to overlook violations in restaurants and kiosks. A second complaint, forwarded by the National Transparency Authority, broadened the scope to urban planning offices region-wide.
PS Bribery in urban-planning offices is nothing new. It has been going on for de-ca-des and everyone is aware of this since Noah started to rebuild the world after the big storm. Everybody knows – except the governments, maybe. But now, the Mitsotakis’ government is planning to removed these offices from the municipal authorities and move them to the central state institutions. Therefore, a “bribery scandal” has been revealed… It’s all politics and for political purposes, after all.
