Greek tax authority AADE has now set its sights on Spyros Martikas regarding the fraud ring that the former Survivor contestant reported to authorities. It should be noted that Mr. Martikas claims the money he gave to the ring amounts to 720,000 euros, which he obtained by cashing in three insurance policies. However, according to ANT1, AADE is investigating the source of the money following the publicization of these amounts.
Spyros Martikas’s “calvary”: “I attempted suicide” – The person who saved him
“I attempted suicide with drugs I stole from my pharmacy. Everyone was away. It was July 8-9, 2024. This is officially reported,” said the pharmacist, describing minute by minute his suicide attempt. However, he emphasized the life-saving intervention of two people who changed his life. “Vrisida saw me through the camera we had, because she was monitoring me. My sister came down to save me. I had recorded in a note what had happened to me.”
At the same time, Spyros Martikas revealed: “From then on, my calvary began. The lieutenant had warned me not to speak because I’m famous. I was constantly receiving threats not to speak. Would I, the most sensible person that exists, attempt suicide?”
The threats, the trap and the battle for truth
Speaking about how he was trapped and the suffocating pressures he faced, Spyros Martikas revealed that he was forced to act alone to prove the truth. “They told me that to get my money back I had to bring them clients. Then I get wired up with bugs from Omonia. I found them on some websites. They set up a friend of mine so I could relive the story with him.” Finally, Spyros Martikas mentioned: “We went out to eat with the lieutenant, everything is recorded. The whole theater from the beginning again. It was my only salvation for someone to believe me. All my truth naked.”
Casino “investors” ring: “They took a total of 720,000 euros from me,” Martikas revealed
Meanwhile, the pharmacist who became widely known for his participation in reality TV revealed that the lieutenant had previously been a croupier and was expelled from the Parnitha casino because he had also set up games there. “The lieutenant presented himself as the casino director. They told us to invest with a weekly return of 10%. The fairy tale was that the casino’s liquidity wasn’t enough and they needed investors. I didn’t get a receipt for the money I gave, the leader guaranteed it. My money was completely clean. I cashed in three insurance policies and also put in the money from Survivor,” said Spyros Martikas. He continued saying that the ring extracted approximately 720,000 euros from him in total. “They took a total of 720,000 euros from me. This money isn’t only mine but also belongs to my people. The lieutenant claimed I wouldn’t dare to speak and mentioned threats against my life. He convinced other victims by saying: ‘let me tell you how much Martikas earned?’“
The businessman’s extrajudicial notice to Spyros Martikas
On 06/05/2025, the ring’s lieutenant sent an extrajudicial notice to Spyros Martikas claiming that he owes him 33,000 euros that he hasn’t returned.
“In July 2024 you requested to borrow money from me in front of your partner and through messages, to cover your urgent financial needs. Over time your request was expressed in an increasingly pressing manner while you characteristically mentioned that you were in a climate of desperation. Given the friendship that had developed between us, I decided to lend to you. However, no day had been set for the money to be returned and you continued to ask me to lend more capital.
To my regret, our relations cooled and were completely formal. After some months the amount reached 33,000 euros. I asked you for a sworn statement in which you would confess your debt and you did it on 03.10.2024. To my subsequent harassment for loan repayment you reacted strongly and the culmination of everything was sending slanderous messages against me to my employee and you unleashed threats. I call on you to return the money to me within four months.”
Spyros Martikas responded that the lieutenant had told him that to continue giving him money he would have to sign a sworn statement stating that he owed him the money. However, as he says, he signed the sworn statement with his lawyer’s consent as the lieutenant had also agreed to sign another sworn statement stating that he owed him nothing. Spyros Martikas also responded to what the Loutraki casino said, saying that to go up to the lieutenant’s room someone had to unlock the elevator. “How did they not know his name? Both the investors’ and his own?“
“Fire” from the alleged leader’s lawyer
After Spyros Martikas’s revelations, the lawyer of the rogue police officer who appears as the fraud ring’s leader unleashed “fire” against the well-known pharmacist. “Mr. Martikas stated to Mr. Evangelatos that the money he claims to have lost was all black, undeclared and untaxed. The Money Laundering Authority of AADE has intervened and is conducting a tax audit. At this moment Mr. Martikas wanted to receive 3,984,000 euros for the 600,000 euros,” stated lawyer Nikos Avlonitis, speaking to Star television station, who attacked both Spyros Martikas and the other alleged victims, claiming they exploited his client to launder black money.
He added that “my client took money and played it on behalf of others and gave them 20%. With Mr. Martikas we have a settlement. He gave us 35,000 euros and in one month we gave him 50,000 euros. It’s usury, yes, but honestly between scoundrels. Why were they giving him black bags with money? Because it was black, undeclared and hadn’t been taxed,” he added.
“Pantelidis’s money is 24,000 euros not 250,000”
Subsequently, Nikos Avlonitis claimed that the money Pantelis Pantelidis had lost the night before he was killed wasn’t 250,000 euros, as Spyros Martikas claims. “The late Pantelidis’s money is 24,000 euros, not 250,000 as Martikas says. Let Mr. Martikas stop artificially inflating the case to cover other information.”
He added: “From information I know, the late one had been drinking, as the competent prosecutorial authorities said. The result of the crash was alcohol and not that he lost 24,000 euros,” he added and concluded: “From there on, Mr. Martikas tries artificially, without justifying the source of his money, to say all these things about people whose only problem is gambling addiction.”
