US sanctions Greek enablers of Intellexa spyware
The US has imposed sanctions on five individuals and one entity involved in the Intellexa Consortium, which sold the illegal Predator spyware in Greece, found in dozens of phones, including those belonging politicians, journalists and businesspeople.
The sanctioned individuals include key figures involved in Greece’s wiretapping scandal, which became known in 2022.
Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it was sanctioning the individuals and entity “for their role in developing, operating, and distributing commercial spyware technology that presents a significant threat to the national security of the United States.”
It added that the sanctions “complement concerted US government actions against commercial spyware vendors” that have already been “exercised on 13 individuals.”
“The United States will not tolerate the reckless propagation of disruptive technologies that threatens our national security and undermines the privacy and civil liberties of our citizens,” said Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith.
“We will continue to hold accountable those that seek to enable the proliferation of exploitative technologies, while also encouraging the responsible development of technologies that align with international standards.”
The sanctioned individuals are:
Felix Bitzios, who OFAC describes as “the beneficial owner of an Intellexa Consortium company that was used to supply Predator spyware to a foreign government client. Bitzios also acted as the manager of Intellexa SA, a company in the Intellexa Consortium.”
Andrea Nicola Constantino Hermes Gambazzi, “the beneficial owner of Thalestris Limited and Intellexa Limited, members of the Intellexa Consortium … Thalestris Limited holds distribution rights to the Predator spyware, and is the parent company to Intellexa SA Thalestris Limited has been involved in processing transactions on behalf of other entities within the Intellexa Consortium.”
Merom Harpaz, “a top executive of the Intellexa Consortium, and acted as a manager of Intellexa SA.”
Panagiota Karaoli, “the director of multiple Intellexa Consortium entities that are controlled by or are a subsidiary of Thalestris Limited.”
Artemis Artemiou, “the general manager and member of the board of Cytrox Holdings Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag (Cytrox Holdings), a member of the Intellexa Consortium [and] an employee of Intellexa SA.”
The sanctioned entited is Aliada Group Inc., “a British Virgin Islands-based company and member of the Intellexa Consortium [that] has enabled tens of millions of dollars of transactions involving the network. The Aliada Group is directed by Dilian. The Aliada Group was associated with Intellexa SA and Intellexa Limited, and held shares in Cytrox Holdings.”
As a result of the sanction designation, “all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked,” OFAC said.
It added that “financial institutions and other persons that engage in certain transactions or activities with the sanctioned entities and individuals may expose themselves to sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action.”
