Mykonos: Urban planning chief suspended amid corruption probe

The head of the urban planning office in Mykonos was suspended on Monday by Mayor Christos Veronis, under a decision published on the government’s transparency platform ‘Diavgeia’, as eKathimerini reports.

According to eKathimerini’s reporting, the decision follows an investigation launched on September 21 by the Cyclades prosecutor’s office, which has been assigned to Greece’s Internal Affairs service. The official is suspected of a series of criminal offenses, among them repeated breach of trust, false certification, bribery, forgery and removal of documents, some at the level of serious crime.

During the investigation, officials on September 22 searched the Mykonos planning chief’s home, where they found documents related to the planning office’s activity, as well as an amphora that may fall under antiquities legislation, eKathimerini writes. The suspension decision will be forwarded to the Interior Ministry for final confirmation.

Part of the investigation relates to a criminal complaint filed in late 2025 by lawyer Stelios Garipis, who denounced, among other things, breach of duty and environmental degradation. According to the complaint, a businessman erected a 1,200-square-meter building with a small-scale works permit: “The approval concerns exclusively the repair and restoration of an old building and only painting works. However, excavation works are currently being carried out on the property with three excavators.” Investigators are also examining whether the planning office failed to carry out inspections of properties despite previous prosecution orders, while the office’s archivist has already been suspended in another corruption case involving planning offices in Attica.