The Pizza Fan case: what Greek police allege, and where the chain's 2,500 workers stand

Greek police say the ordering software of Pizza Fan, a pizza chain with 110 shops, let staff close some sales without issuing a receipt, and that this hid more than €150 million of taxable income from at least 2016 ²¹¹⁵. Police announced the arrest of 23 people on 23 October 2026 ². The 23 are suspects, not convicted, and a lawyer for one of them says "we disagree with the prosecution" ⁹. The company has closed its own shops and says it has more than 2,500 employees, whose position is now unclear ¹³¹⁰.

What do the police say the software did?

The announcement came from ΔΑΟΕ (Διεύθυνση Αντιμετώπισης Οργανωμένου Εγκλήματος, Diefthynsi Antimetopisis Organomenou Egklimatos), the organised crime division of ΕΛ.ΑΣ. (Ελληνική Αστυνομία, Elliniki Astynomia), the Hellenic Police ². Police say they worked with ΑΑΔΕ (Ανεξάρτητη Αρχή Δημοσίων Εσόδων, Anexartiti Archi Dimosion Esodon), Greece's tax authority, and searched offices, shops and homes in Attica and Thessaloniki on 22 October 2026 ⁴¹³.

According to the police announcement, some orders were picked by a special algorithm, and for those an extra option named «κέρασμα» ("on the house") appeared ⁴ΕΛ. Police say that option completed the sale without a receipt from the company's approved e-invoicing provider, a ΥΠΑΗΕΣ (Υπηρεσία Παρόχου Ηλεκτρονικής Τιμολόγησης, Ypiresia Parochou Ilektronikis Timologisis) ¹⁵. The unreceipted orders, police say, were still recorded in the company's central system ⁵¹. In the police account, receipts were never issued; nothing is said to have been deleted ²⁵.

Police estimate the loss to the state at more than €35 million and say the concealed taxable income exceeds €150 million ²ΕΛ. Some outlets have reported hidden turnover of more than €200 million, but that figure is not in the police announcement, and Newsit, one of those outlets, says it cannot be equated with definitively established hidden turnover ¹⁸¹⁹.

Why did Greece's digital tax checks not flag it?

Receipts issued through cash registers are transmitted to myDATA, an ΑΑΔΕ platform, and linking card terminals to cash registers lets the authority look for mismatches between payments and receipts, as Capital.gr explains ²⁰. By our reading of the police account, a cash sale closed in this way would send nothing to either system, and the only trace would stay in the company's own order records ⁵²⁰.

What are the 23 suspects accused of?

The prosecutor brought felony charges of setting up, joining and directing a criminal organisation, tax evasion of more than €150,000, and money laundering ⁶⁷. Police identify the suspects only by age and role, from the alleged leader to store managers ⁴¹. All 23 were referred to an investigating magistrate (ανακριτής, anakritis), are due to appear on Tuesday 27 October 2026, and were expected to ask for more time to prepare ⁷⁸⁹.

A lawyer who represents one of the defendants said "we disagree with the prosecution" and spoke of elements of exaggeration in the acts attributed to them, in our translation ⁹. The company said it had always run many free-product promotions and that "confusion may have arisen in calculating the company's turnover", in our translation ¹⁰¹¹.

Was someone inside ΑΑΔΕ involved?

Parapolitika has published dialogue it says comes from the case file, in which a speaker says «έχουμε ανθρώπους που είναι καλή η σχέση μας, πολύ καλή και μας ενημέρωσαν», "we have people we have a good relationship with, a very good one, and they informed us", in our translation ²². In a related report, Parapolitika notes these are case-file references, not judicially proven involvement of specific employees ²¹. The claim is not in the police announcement ¹. We found no response from ΑΑΔΕ by 25 October 2026.

Why are the shops closed?

The shops were closed by the business itself, not by a decision of ΑΑΔΕ or any other administrative authority ¹³. The company's telephone order centre has been dismantled and seized by police, which makes operating practically impossible ¹³. One sanction ΑΑΔΕ uses for missing receipts is a temporary closure: on 23 October 2026, in an unrelated case, it announced a 48-hour closure of an Athens nightclub over three unissued receipts totalling €4,560 ²³²⁴.

Pizza Fan says it aims for an "immediate and full" reopening but has given no date ¹⁰¹².

If you work for Pizza Fan

Your contract has not been ended. A labour lawyer quoted by two outlets says that if a business cannot operate for a reason that concerns the employer, contracts stay in force and wages remain owed ¹³¹⁶. Tomanifesto cites article 656 of the Civil Code ¹⁶.

Unemployment benefit is not yet open to you. Regular unemployment benefit (Τακτική Επιδότηση Ανεργίας, Taktiki Epidotisi Anergias) is for employment that "either expired or was terminated by the employer" ¹⁷ΕΛ. By our reading, that excludes workers whose contracts are still valid, and a resignation is neither of those cases ¹⁷.

The union has asked for a special scheme. ΠΟΕΕΤ (Πανελλήνια Ομοσπονδία Εργαζομένων στον Επισιτισμό και Τουρισμό, Panellinia Omospondia Ergazomenon ston Episitismo kai Tourismo), the food-service and tourism workers' federation, asked the labour minister to suspend the 2,500 contracts with special-purpose compensation, so that workers keep their insurance cover ¹⁵¹⁴.

The ministry has announced no measure. Unnamed ministry sources say it is following developments and that the safety net for people who lose their job through the employer's fault is unemployment benefit ¹³¹⁶. They are also reported as saying that contract suspension is meant for extraordinary events such as a pandemic or disasters ¹⁶¹³. We found no statement from ΔΥΠΑ (Δημόσια Υπηρεσία Απασχόλησης, Dimosia Ypiresia Apascholisis), the public employment service, by 25 October 2026.

In practice: keep your contract, payslips and a record of your hours, and talk to your union or a labour lawyer before signing anything that ends your contract.

What happens next?

Police sent 108 inspection reports to ΑΑΔΕ, which will assess the taxes, and procedures to freeze the suspects' assets have begun ¹. For Pizza Fan's employees, the open questions are when the shops reopen and whether the ministry acts ¹²¹³.