EEEP opens hiring for 40-strong Greek gambling enforcement unit
The Hellenic Gaming Commission has secured funding to staff a new Inspection and Enforcement division as Athens tightens penalties for illegal betting.
Greece's gambling regulator, the Hellenic Gaming Commission (EEEP), has received budget approval to begin hiring 40 staff for a newly created Inspection and Enforcement division, SBC News reported.
The division will sit at the heart of a tougher national effort to police unlicensed betting and gaming. Applicants can come from existing permanent public-sector roles, qualifying public bodies, or private-sector IT firms, reflecting the technical skills the regulator says it needs to track illegal operators online.
The hiring push stems from legislation adopted in June under Minister of National Economy and Finance Kyriakos Pierrakakis, who has made cracking down on black-market gambling a policy priority.
Speaking on 6 October, Pierrakakis put the scale of the problem at close to €1.8bn (£1.5bn) in unlicensed gambling turnover across 2025, with roughly 900,000 people estimated to have taken part. That figure builds on earlier ministry research from 2024, which had calculated illegal gambling activity at €1.67bn and annual lost state revenue at around €500m.
The June law sharply raises the stakes for anyone caught running unlicensed games of chance, setting minimum prison terms of ten years alongside fines of between €50,000 and €700,000. Where offences are judged aggravated — covering commercial-scale operations, cases involving minors, or premises reopened after being shut down by enforcement action — fines rise to between €100,000 and €800,000, with the same ten-year minimum custodial threshold applying.
Enforcement powers themselves have also been expanded. The EEEP's Inspection and Enforcement unit will gain special investigative authority that goes beyond simply blocking illegal gambling websites, allowing it to pursue the individuals and networks operating behind them.
Pierrakakis has pointed to artificial intelligence and other digital tools as part of the regulator's toolkit, used to map illicit networks, pinpoint the websites involved and trace how they are promoted. The aim, according to the minister, is to pair technical takedown capability with investigative work robust enough to stand up in criminal prosecutions.
The regulator has already moved against individuals accused of promoting illegal gambling online: complaints have been lodged against 18 social media influencers, with those cases now at the preliminary investigation stage.
Pierrakakis has separately criticised social media platforms themselves, arguing they have failed to curb illegal gambling content appearing on their networks.
The Finance Ministry is also working with the Ministry of Justice to set up cross-agency coordination aimed at ensuring prosecutions reach both individuals and organised criminal groups linked to illegal gambling in Greece, SBC News reported.