When something goes wrong inside a company, or a deal depends on trusting a stranger, management needs facts quickly and quietly. A corporate private investigator in Greece provides what internal teams and auditors usually cannot: discreet field enquiries, background research on people and companies, and documented observations that stand up when lawyers, insurers or courts look at them.
Since the early 1990s the office of Petros Drolias, licensed private investigator in Athens, has carried out more than 1,500 investigations in 14 countries. Our corporate clients include Greek companies of every size, foreign businesses entering or already operating in Greece, international law firms and shipping companies based around Piraeus. We work in English and report in a format that suits your board, your general counsel or your foreign head office.
What corporate investigations cover
The common thread is risk: to your information, your money, your brand or your reputation. Each of the six services below can be commissioned separately or combined into a wider engagement.
Industrial espionage
If a competitor seems to know your prices, designs or tender strategy, you need to understand how. We investigate suspected theft of trade secrets and confidential documents, map who had access, examine the circumstances around departing employees and, where appropriate, combine our work with a technical sweep from our counter-surveillance service. The aim is to establish facts that support legal action and to close the gap.
Partner and supplier vetting
Before you appoint a distributor, sign with a supplier or invest in a Greek company, it pays to check what lies behind the presentation. Our due diligence verifies corporate registrations, shareholders and directors where publicly recorded, litigation and insolvency history, real presence at declared premises and reputation in the market. For foreign clients, this bridges the gap between a glossy profile and the reality on the ground.
Information leaks
A leak can come from a careless employee, a disgruntled insider, a third-party contractor or a technical vulnerability. We trace the route lawfully: reconstructing who had the information and when, conducting interviews with your legal team's agreement, and checking meeting rooms and devices for surveillance equipment. The result shows not only where the leak came from but how to prevent the next one.
Maritime matters
Greece is the world's leading shipowning nation, and many maritime disputes have a Greek dimension. We assist shipowners, managers, charterers, insurers and their lawyers with cargo discrepancies and theft, crew-related incidents, chartering disputes, ship-supply irregularities and tracing parties in Piraeus and other ports. See our page for shipping companies for more detail.
Counterfeit products
Counterfeits damage revenue and reputation, and in some sectors they endanger consumers. We identify points of sale, storage and distribution, carry out test purchases, document findings with photographs and dated records, and prepare evidence for the brand owner's lawyers and for referral to the competent authorities. Online marketplaces and social media sellers are part of the picture too.
Financial crime
Internal fraud, embezzlement, kickbacks and asset diversion often surface as a feeling that something does not add up. We work alongside your auditors and lawyers to establish the facts: lifestyle and asset indicators from public sources, links between employees and suppliers, undeclared business interests and the movements of key people. We do not access bank, tax or telecom data; we build lawful evidence your advisers can act on.
How we work with businesses
Corporate investigations start with a scoping meeting, usually with your general counsel or external lawyers present. We agree the questions that need answers, the legal framework, the people who will be informed and the reporting line. You then receive a written plan and cost estimate before any work begins.
During the engagement we keep a strict need-to-know circle. Updates are given at agreed intervals, and urgent findings, for example evidence that assets are being moved, are reported immediately. The final deliverable is a structured written report with a chronology, sources and supporting material, suitable for internal decision-making, insurers or legal proceedings in Greece or abroad.
Legality protects your company
An investigation that breaks the law becomes a liability. Article 19 of the Greek Constitution protects the privacy of communications and makes illegally obtained evidence inadmissible. Article 370A of the Penal Code criminalises illegal interception and recording, and the GDPR and Law 4624/2019 set strict rules for processing employees' and third parties' data.
That is why we never intercept communications, access personal accounts or use covert spyware. Monitoring of company-owned devices is only appropriate under a written usage policy known to staff, and we advise you on how to set that up properly. Lawful evidence is the only kind that helps you.
When to call an investigator
Companies often wait too long, hoping a problem will resolve itself or trying to handle it internally first. Internal enquiries are valuable, but they can also alert the people involved, lead to evidence being deleted or create employment-law risks if handled informally. It is usually worth talking to an investigator, with your lawyer, when:
- confidential information has appeared somewhere it should not, and you do not know how
- stock, cash or margins are disappearing without a clear explanation
- a new partner, distributor or acquisition target is located in Greece and you cannot verify what you have been told
- counterfeit versions of your products are being reported by customers or distributors
- a senior employee has left suddenly and a competitor's behaviour has changed
For foreign companies the language barrier, unfamiliar registries and the importance of personal networks in Greek business make independent local verification particularly valuable. A hypothetical example: an overseas manufacturer about to appoint an exclusive Greek distributor might discover, through a few days of registry research and discreet site visits, that the declared warehouse is a residential flat and that the company's director has a history of insolvent businesses. That knowledge, gained before signing, saves far more than it costs.
Before our first meeting, it helps to gather a short written summary, the relevant contracts or correspondence and a list of people who already know about the issue. Keeping that circle small protects the investigation.
Next steps
Arrange a free, confidential consultation by phone, video call or at our Athens office. Call us 24/7 or send a message through our contact page. Businesses can also read how we support companies on our page for businesses, and in-house or external counsel may find our litigation support service relevant.