Chilling moment a surveyor is assassinated by hitman on a moped in dispute over 9.5 acre plot of land in Mykonos: Dark side of influencers’ holiday island where Greek mafia are fighting for control of lucrative real estate market

This is the chilling moment a surveyor was mercilessly shot dead in a mafia-style hit as he arrived for work.

Panagiotis Stathis, 54 was parking his blue BMW outside his office at 8.30am in the upmarket Athens district of Psychiko when a scooter rider wearing a black jacket and white crash helmet casually pulled up alongside him.

Clutching a pistol in his gloved hand, the assassin fired indiscriminately into the vehicle and then calmly paused to reload the weapon before spraying another round of bullets, leaving Mr Stathis slumped over the steering wheel drenched in blood. He was killed instantly.

The hitman then carefully places the gun inside his jacket, puts his scooter into gear and gently rides off without a care in the world along an empty street. The cold-blooded killing was captured on CCTV which underlined the brazenly nonchalant manner in which it was carried out.

More than 20 bullets were pumped into Mr Stathis during the targeted hit in July with Greek police investigating claims that it was ordered by a high-ranking member of the country’s mafia.

In a mafia-style hit that shocked Greece, the suspect was then caught on CCTV driving away from the scene. The motive for the murder is believed to be a dispute over a plot of land on the holiday island of Mykonos

Detectives in Athens arrested a suspect aged 44 who reportedly has links to the Greek mafia

But in a bizarre twist, the killing has not been linked to mobs vying for control of Athens’ streets, the drugs trade or anything else one might ordinarily associate with organised crime but for land and planning applications more than 100 miles away on the luxury holiday island of Mykonos.

Famed for its turquoise coastline, lavish villas and exclusive beach clubs, Mykonos is considered the undisputed holiday destination for the super-rich.

Hollywood A-listers, football stars, models and high-rollers flock to the island each summer to party at swanky spots where bottles of champagne cost anything up to £150,000 and shop in exclusive boutiques selling designer clothes, £10,000 Louis Vuitton handbags and diamond studded watches.

The contract killing of Mr Stathis (pictured) was carefully planned – and there was reportedly a bounty on his head of €100,000

The A listers who visited this year included Jeff Bezos, who holidayed with his partner Lauren Sanchez and his son; Oscar winning actor Matt Damon and his wife Luciana; singer Joe Jonas; Casey Affleck and Premier League star Mo Salah.

But away from the glam and the Instagram shots of the island’s celebrated blue doomed churches, windmills and whitewashed houses lies a sinister underbelly of recent crime and violence that was brought to light by Mr Stathis’ killing.

Locals claim that much of it is driven by the Greek mafia as it seeks to exert control over planning bureaucrats, engineers and surveyors involved in high profile construction projects and manipulate planning laws to cash in on the island’s lucrative tourism industry.

A 44-year-old man with links to the Greek mafia has been arrested for his murder.

Mr Stathis’ assassination was meticulously planned with police sources in Athens claiming that the hitman conducted a rehearsal of the execution.

Detectives are studying CCTV taken from the scene 24 hours earlier when the suspect was filmed outside Mr Stathis’ office – and again 90 minutes before he was gunned down in broad daylight. 

Officers also noted that the inspection stamp (KTEO) on the fake license plate on the suspect’s scooter had been meticulously replicated. 

Wealthy, high net worth individuals like Australian fashion designer and creative director Pip Edwards are drawn to the holiday island by the cobbled streets, boutiques and restaurants

During the summer months Mykonos has been the go to place for people who can afford it, like Emma Krokdal wife of Dolph Lundgren (left) and model Sophie Habboo (right)

But while the demand to stay on Mykonos has never been higher, behind the scenes business people and Greece’s criminal underworld fight over real estate to build accommodation  

They believe that the murder of the surveyor was a contract killing with a €100,000 bounty on his head.

His murder has shone a spotlight a bitter dispute over land between Stathis and a local businessman.

Stathis had acquired a prime 9.5-acre parcel of land adjacent to the site slated for the luxury Four Seasons hotel, thwarting a local real estate agent’s attempts to secure the same land. 

Stathis and his business partner managed to block the agent’s efforts and purchase the property themselves. 

Intriguingly, their names do not appear on the official documentation; instead, the land is registered under close relatives’ names.

In August 2020, Stathis secured a permit to build a five-star hotel on the land, valid until August 2021. 

He later revised the permit to reduce the volume of construction while retaining the buildable square footage, planning to develop bungalows similar to those of the Four Seasons. 

It appears the ultimate goal was to sell the property to Four Seasons at a substantial profit.

Detectives in Greece are examining a series of intense text messages between Stathis and the businessman, discussing the potential sale of the land to Four Seasons. 

The exchange indicates that both men initially aimed to collaborate for financial gain but eventually fell out.

A close friend of his who did not want to be named told MailOnline: ‘He was doing big business, he was very good at his job. He knew every piece of land in Mykonos, he could get things done for the developers. There were a lot of influential people who didn’t like him because he was getting in their way.’

With swathes of tourists coming to the island, demand for land to build hotels and holiday lets has increased which has led to disputes between local business people and developers. Only 10,000 people live on the island – but it has 76 hotels with luxury villas that cost £10k a week

Mykonos’ paved streets with trendy boutiques are the envy of the world. This Rousounelos shop in Matogianni A. street sells watches by Tudor, Omega, Rolex and Cartier

The tiny island of Mykonos – with it’s exclusive shops and restaurants is financially crucial to the Greece economy with the island generating £2 billion every year, 2% of the country’s GDP

The suspected assassin was allegedly also linked to the abduction of wealthy businessman Pericles Panagopoulos in 2009, freed after a $30million ransom was paid the kidnappers.

In another mafia-style hit that took place last March, Manolis Psarros, 53, an archaeologist, was viciously attacked outside his Athens home suffering broken ribs and a broken nose.

Most property developments in Greece require approval from the government’s archology department, given its deep history and Mr Psarros was responsible for issuing construction permits for Mykonos.

He had reported several cases of illegal developments, some of which were stopped.

Christos Veronis, mayor of Mykonos who was elected last year told MailOnline: ‘There is no Mykonos mafia, it is the Greek mafia in Athens that is targeting our island. They are trying to destroy Mykonos because they know there is money to be made here.

‘A lot of people want to build and invest here. Some are criminals from the Greek underworld who want to profit from the success of the island’s tourist industry at any cost.’ 

The stakes are high. Mr Veronis revealed that for this year’s tourist season, which runs from March to October, Mykonos attracted 2.3 million visitors, a staggering figure for an island that is only nine miles long and six miles wide.

It only has a permanent population of 10,000 but boasts 76 five-star hotels and hundreds of luxury villas that start at £10,000 per week to rent.

Following Mr Stathis’s killing, police also uncovered a protection racket run by criminal figures based in Athens who were demanding £5,000 from businesses in Mykonos so that they could operate during the tourist season.

The tiny island generates close to £2 billion from tourism, which amounts to 2% of Greece’s GDP, making it crucial to the country’s economic fortunes.

Property prices are at a premium because of the tourism boom resulting in a concerted drive by criminal groups to maximise profits even if it means operating above the law.

Local lawyer Ioannis Paradissis said: ‘Economic gains have taken precedence over everything else in Mykonos which has led to a lot of illegal activities. Most tourists coming here are not directly affected by this kind of crime and have no idea what is going on as they enjoy themselves.’

‘We are talking about organised crime groups who are flouting planning laws or putting pressure on officials to authorise land deals so that expensive properties can be constructed.’ 

Crime rates are generally low on the island although there have been reports over the years of wealthy tourists being targeted. Five years ago, the model Gigi Hadid was robbed while holidaying in Mykonos with her sisters.

She told her 390,000 followers on Instagram that she would never return to the island, writing: ‘Spend your money elsewhere.’

Four people with known links to the Greek mafia have been arrested and are awaiting trial.

Against the backdrop of demand for the island, behind the scenes there is disharmony. The local mayor said that criminal organisations are targeting council officials to authorise land deals so that expensive properties can be constructed, and act above the law if they have to

The execution of surveyor Mr Stathis 110 miles away in Athens is believed to have been over a 9.5-acre patch of land next to the construction site of the Four Seasons Hotel (pictured). Mr Stathis bought it, thwarting a real estate agent’s attempts to secure the same land

New developments are springing up all over Mykonos to cope with the holidaymakers wanting to rent them over the tourist season. Competition to acquire the land and build on it is fierce

The recent incidents have led authorities to respond quickly to try and stop to what they describe as a ‘culture of organised crime,’ on Mykonos.

Two night clubs with suspected links to crime groups were recently closed down after operating for many years without any problems.

The government in Athens has also vowed to crackdown on organised crime in Mykonos.

Supreme Court prosecutor Georgia Adeilini has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate ‘mafia practices’ on the island which will cover areas such as construction and land deals, protection rackets and drug trafficking.

An extra 200 police officers were drafted into Mykonos for this summer season along with financial crime investigators and building inspectors.

Athanasios Megas, president of Mykonos Port Authority said: ‘There are a lot of good things in Mykonos but some bad things have also been happening.

‘But it’s now changing. We don’t care if it’s a high-profile developer or a simple business, everything will be done according to the law. These criminal groups will not damage the global brand of Mykonos.’

The drive to combat organised crime has led to officials in Mykonos to halt the issuing of construction permits until a new development plan is drawn up for the island.

But despite this many developers have been allowed to continue because of a rule that allows projects of over £40 million to bypass the moratorium.

Construction vehicles and workers dominate the landscape around the stunning Kalo Livadi bay in the secluded south of the island, a peaceful oasis which boasts a pure white sandy beach that offers stunning views of the crystal-clear Mediterranean.

The massive project will lead to the construction of a new Four Seasons resort which will be made up of 192 rooms, a wellness centre, a multi-purpose event space and shops.

The development will also contain more than 100 villas with developers also planning to build a marina nearby.

Another development of villas close to the village of Ano Mera in the centre of the island has also been continuing. Once complete, they are expected to cost close to £2 million each.

Locals in the tranquil village which contains a centuries old monastery gossip over coffee about how construction was allowed to take place given the area’s archaeological heritage.

None of them are ever likely to afford purchasing one of the lavish villas, protesting that the development has come to symbolise all this wrong with their beautiful island.

Asimoitis Markos who works in a local bakery and has lived on the island all his life said: ‘For us, Mykonos is not about five-star hotels, celebrities and beach clubs. That is not our world, and these places are not being built for us.

‘Many greedy and dangerous people have targeted this island because they can make a lot of money. But things are very simple for those of us who live here. I just like to go for a walk and eat a souvlaki. I have never been to a beach club in all my life.’