Nikos and Vasilis Paleokostas

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The brothers Paleokostas ( Nikos Paleokostas, Greek Νίκος Παλαιοκώστας , * 1960 in Moschofyto near Trikala , and Vasilis Paleokostas Βασίλης Παλαιοκώστας, * 1966 in Moschofyto near Trikala) are the most prominent gangsters in Greece . They caused a sensation through numerous, sometimes spectacular, prison escapes .

1979 to 1987: Start of the criminal career

The older of the two brothers, Nikos, began his criminal career at the age of around 19 with theft and break-ins in the Trikala area. He teamed up with other well-known criminals such as Kostas Samaras; From about 1986 the younger brother Vasilis was also a member of the gang, who is attributed to 27 break-ins and robberies, preferably of jewelry stores, throughout Greece.

1988 to 1995: burglaries, breakouts, robberies and first kidnapping

After Nikos Paleokostas was arrested in January 1988, he was held in Trikala prison. From there he escaped shortly afterwards with the help of his brother Vasilis, who had thrown a rope over the prison wall for him late at night. In February 1990, Nikos Paleokostas was arrested again. In April of the same year Vasilis was also arrested when he tried to help his brother in another breakout, this time from Larisa prison ; the plan was to attack the prison with a makeshift armored car.

After a few months, Nikos Paleokostas escaped from Korydallos prison during a prisoner riot . Vasilis Paleokostas escaped without difficulty from Chalkida prison in January 1991 by tying a rope made from sheets to a hook he had made himself. In the years that followed, the brothers moved from theft and break-in to bank robbery. They looted hundreds of millions of drachmas in 16 robberies and were able to avoid all searches and roadblocks. Most famous of all was the raid on the National Bank in Kalambaka , where the loot was 125 million drachmas. They had previously blocked the only local police vehicle with two cars; When the police started the chase on foot, the gangsters threw 5,000 drachma bills on the street to stop them.

In December 1995, in Thessaloniki-Oreokastro, they kidnapped the businessman Alexandros Chaitoglou and held him prisoner for four days. They extorted a ransom of 270 million drachmas.

1999 to 2006: arrest, conviction and first escape "ready for a movie"

Vasilis Paleokostas was again accidentally arrested in 1999 when he was causing a traffic accident. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison and was imprisoned in Thessaloniki- Diavata, Corfu City and Athens-Korydallos prisons . In the prisons he enjoyed the respect of the other prisoners as an informal "prisoner chief" and gave no cause for complaint with his behavior. In great secrecy, he organized the first escape with a helicopter on June 4, 2006. A helicopter rented from the Aeroclub Agios Kosmas for an alleged flight to Mykonos picked him up from the courtyard of the prison in Korydallos together with his Albanian fellow prisoner Alket Rizai . Alket Rizai is considered a cold-blooded killer.

Nikos Paleokostas had been hiding in central and northern Greece for years. He was arrested near Arachova on September 13, 2006, a few weeks after his brother escaped. In the car chase prior to his arrest, he was injured when he lost control of his car. He had to undergo surgery under police surveillance because of a broken left hand. In April 2009 he was sentenced to nine years in prison for a bank robbery in Veria in 2005 .

2008: Second kidnapping

Vasilis Paleokostas was arrested in Thessaloniki on August 20, 2008, and charged with kidnapping Giorgos Mylonas , President of the North Greek Federation of Industrialists , who was abducted at gunpoint from his home in June 2008 and detained for 13 days. The perpetrators had extorted 11 million euros. The investigators had discovered Paleokostas after an accomplice had lived on a large scale and issued banknotes with registered numbers. Only part of the ransom was found.

February 22, 2009: Second escape by helicopter

On February 22, 2009, Vasilis Paleokostas managed to escape from Korydallos prison for the second time, again with the help of a helicopter lowering a rope ladder into the prison yard. Paleokostas and his accomplice Alket Rizai, who also accompanied him on this escape, floated away and were dropped off near where escape vehicles were waiting. The guards fired numerous shots, with a guard shooting himself in the hand.

The pilot of the helicopter, who was later arrested north of Athens, said he was forced to fly at gunpoint by two people, including a woman. Several prison guards were arrested on suspicion of complicity. In an express trial, an officer responsible for guarding was sentenced to three years suspended sentence; three others and the helicopter pilot were acquitted.

In April 2009, Vasilis Paleokostas ran into a traffic control with his car. After the police shot three tires on his vehicle, he fled on foot into a forest and could not be caught.

As a result, investigators linked Paleokostas to acts of terrorism. His fingerprints are said to have been found on a letter bomb destined for the Greek Justice Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis , which exploded in the hands of an official on June 24, 2010 (and killed him).

In February 2011, the police offered a reward of one million euros for the capture of Vasilis Paleokostas.

Political Consequences

The second escape from the largest prison in the country, which is regarded as a maximum security prison, in the same way exposed the Greek security authorities to ridicule and demonstrated their impotence against determined and armed criminals. Justice Minister Nikos Dendias initiated disciplinary proceedings against the prison director and the prison system inspector. These had to resign on the day of the outbreak. Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis convened an emergency cabinet meeting.

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Greece newspaper online v. April 7, 2009 ( Memento from August 4, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  2. ^ Frankfurter Rundschau of April 2009: "Known escapee escapes again" [1]
  3. ↑ The Guardian of February 9, 2011 "Greece puts € 1m bounty on bank robber accused of terrorism" [2]
  4. ↑ The Guardian of February 9, 2011 "Greece puts € 1m bounty on bank robber accused of terrorism" [3]