Authorities believe the espionage thriller inside the Greek armed forces may involve more people than the air force officer already under arrest. Investigators now suspect a wider network beyond the single suspect.
The 54-year-old wing commander stands accused of leaking military secrets to China. He allegedly made contact with his Chinese handler during a private trip to Beijing in 2024.
Security services and specialist investigators from the Hellenic National Defence General Staff’s Cybersecurity Directorate say they have identified a “shadow figure” who appears to have pulled the strings in the espionage case. As pressure tightens, his profile is becoming clearer, while his relationship with the air force officer is being examined under strict secrecy.
Investigators believe the officer began selling classified material to his Chinese contact in October. They are now examining whether the shadow figure recruited him.
Two more individuals have also come under scrutiny. Information points to two retired officers who allegedly maintain communication channels with China and with similar “handlers” to the one linked to the air force officer. One of them, according to reports, has a working relationship with the Chinese aviation sector. Authorities are moving cautiously and discreetly, gathering evidence piece by piece, as they did in the case of the wing commander.
The surprise arrest of the 54-year-old inside his office at his unit in Kavouri left him no time to react. Cybersecurity teams arrived equipped with electronic device detection tools and located a second mobile phone that the officer had failed to declare, as regulations require.
A specialist officer took possession of the device and, while others questioned the suspect, began recovering files the wing commander had deleted, along with material linked to his illegal activity. The phone revealed multiple transfers of material and signs of illicit financial transactions. Investigators are also probing possible cryptocurrency holdings.
According to the findings, the officer used the second phone to send documents and plans of the armed forces to his Chinese handler. He photographed classified information and transmitted it to Beijing using encrypted software.
Contact between the wing commander and the Chinese handler was established in Beijing in 2024. The trip was private, but military personnel are obliged to notify their units. His failure to do so raised suspicions and marked him, not only in Athens, as a potential spy.
Investigators say he matched the ideal profile for those who selected him. Highly trained, with expertise in electronic systems and electronic warfare, he had access, as a commander, to classified material involving NATO and Greek military assets, operational plans and personnel movements.
Until Tuesday, when he is due to testify before a military prosecutor, the officer will remain in custody at the military court in Kareas. He faces charges of collecting and transmitting military secrets to third parties, with the risk of harming national interests. Military sources stress that the investigation is focusing on the files already sent, while underlining that top-level Alliance secrets were not within the wing commander’s remit.
ERTnews reports that the wing commander also met his handler again after Beijing. In 2025, the Chinese spy attended a conference in another European country and made a brief stop in Athens, where the two men met for a few hours.
Authorities are investigating whether, during that meeting, the officer handed over classified military documents. Intelligence service findings show that in late 2024, he had travelled to Beijing to attend a foreign language seminar.
While there, he met the Chinese agent and, according to information, maintained almost daily contact with him. The agent posed as a businessman, gained the officer’s trust and gradually began requesting classified service documents. During one meeting in Beijing, he handed him the “shadow phone” fitted with encrypted applications.
According to ERTnews sources, payments were made through an encrypted application installed on that device. Transfers were carried out in euros, dollars and cryptocurrencies.
At an early stage of the investigation, monthly and quarterly transfers ranging from €5,000 to €15,000 were identified on the phone, depending on the classification level of the documents. Investigators do not rule out higher sums emerging as the inquiry progresses.
The 54-year-old wing commander has cooperated with authorities and provided key information about his relationship with the Chinese handler, whom he describes as aged between 40 and 45. Financial transactions and photographs of military documents were found on his second phone.
(information from ertnews.gr)
