A 48-year-old local man was arrested in Athens on Friday as an accomplice to an alleged contract killer in custody and charged with the murder last July of a building contractor active on a handful of Cyclades islands, especially jet-setting Mykonos.
The latest suspect is accused of providing the alleged gunman, 44, with two getaway vehicles, a car and scooter.
A 54-year-old civil engineer and surveyor was killed outside the offices of his construction company in the Athens district of Neo Psychiko, with video footage showing a lone helmet-wearing gunman atop a scooter riding up to the victim and repeatedly shooting him.
According to police sources, the man, a Greek national, arrested on Friday was involved in a previous abduction for ransom of a well-known shipowner.
The victim had previously expressed concern over his life after being assaulted in 2021 near his residence in the north Athens district of Halandri, the reason he subsequently moved to the adjacent Neo Psychiko district.
The popular Cyclades island has come under the scrutiny of law enforcement, the government and the media after repeated and often violent incidents involving a so-called “Mykonos mafia” bedeviling the lucrative construction sector there, especially the building of new luxury holiday villas and hotels.
The specific island has also recorded numerous instances of building code violations, private concessions occupying beaches and public land, and instances of corruption at all government levels.
