A complaint about possible breaches of labor, insurance, and tax rules began unraveling the Pizza Fan scandal. Prosecutors have charged the first 23 people arrested in the case with, depending on the individual, forming, joining, and directing a criminal organization.
According to the investigation, from at least 2016 the accused set up and joined a structured, ongoing organization whose purpose was felony-level tax evasion (income tax and VAT). They did this by interfering with the order-taking and receipt-issuing system, allowing franchise stores to skip issuing the required tax documents for certain customer orders.
Police said the group used special software that let stores complete orders without issuing the mandated receipts. Customer orders went into the central system and were forwarded to the relevant stores. When an employee finished an order, the system normally offered the option to issue a receipt (cash or card) or cancel the order.
The “Treat” Function
For selected orders chosen by a special algorithm, an extra function appeared labeled “kerasma” (“treat” / complimentary). This allowed the transaction to be completed without issuing the corresponding tax document. Orders that skipped the receipt were still logged in the central system, so members of the organization could track real store revenue and calculate the amounts being hidden from the tax authorities. In this way, the stores concealed part of their actual turnover, and the corresponding taxes were not paid.
Under the leadership’s arrangements, the illegal cash proceeds were moved under security measures and handed over during monthly meetings of organization members in a specific room of a shopping center. At those meetings, the network’s financial performance linked to the illegal activity was also presented and reviewed.
The investigation found that the leading member owned only 0.01% of the Greek company, while a foreign-based company owned 99.99% and its beneficial owners were the leader and the deputy leader. This structure helped avoid paying taxes in Greece and allowed large sums originating from the Greek company to be placed and moved through the financial system.
Roles of Each Member
Police outlined the roles as follows:
- A 68-year-old, owner and manager of the franchise company and leader of the organization, who managed the company and shaped the group’s structure.
- A 51-year-old, owner of the foreign company that holds the Greek firm, who served as deputy leader and main operational/financial manager.
- A 57-year-old operations director, who acted as the link between leadership and the stores, coordinating and supervising use of the illegal mechanism, handling customer complaints, passing on instructions, managing financial/operational issues, and warning about upcoming inspections.
- A 51-year-old IT director and manager of the order-taking system, responsible for the technical operation of the mechanism.
- A 37-year-old accounting employee and store manager, who handled recording, monitoring, allocation, collection, and movement of the illegal proceeds.
- A 47-year-old involved in financial monitoring, management, and application of the illegal mechanism.
- A 40-year-old, manager of two stores, with a role in the illegal operation.
- A 43-year-old, manager of stores in Thessaloniki and inspector of stores in other parts of Greece, with full knowledge of how the illegal system worked.
- A 44-year-old store inspector who communicated with leadership, relayed instructions, and coordinated the mechanism.
Seizures and Estimated Damage
Searches of offices, stores, and homes yielded:
- €1,288,732.60 in cash
- 52 computer central units
- a tax mechanism
- 6 luxury private cars and 3 motorcycles
- 92 luxury watches and pieces of jewelry
- numerous notes, mobile phones, USB sticks, tablets, laptops, and hard drives
Investigators estimate that from 2016 to 2026 the organization caused the Greek state damage exceeding €35 million through unpaid income tax and VAT, while the concealed taxable base exceeds €150 million.
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