A convicted spy chief says the Greek government is responsible for hacking most of the phone calls

The founder of the spy software company Intellexa has said that he plans to appeal the decision of the Greek court in the cases of he and three other officials people who illegally obtained it as part of a mass communication campaign in the country.

The spy scandal, sometimes referred to as “Greek Watergate,” involved the hacking of the phones of top Greek government ministers, opposition leaders, military commanders, and journalists using Intellexa’s Predator spy software. The tool can jailbreak iPhones and Android devices to steal call rates, text messages, emails, and location data, often tricking the target into going through a malicious link.

Several officials in the Greek government, incl the head of Greece’s intelligence agency and a senior aide to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, resigned after it was revealed that several journalists’ phones had been hacked. No officials have been found guilty in the investigation, and prosecutors have protested Government of Mitsotakis of concealment.

The founder of Intellexa, Tal Dilian, was convicted in February and sentenced to eight years in prison. In a sentence it was first reported by Reuters On Wednesday, he said he would not be a “scapegoat.”

Whether Dilian is a scapegoat or not, as he claims, this comment is a very direct suggestion but from everyone inside Intellexa that the Mitsotakis government will approve of the hacks.

“I believe that a conviction without evidence is not fair, it can be a cover-up and a crime,” Dilian told Reuters. He said he was ready to share evidence with national and international authorities.

Dilian did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment. The Greek embassy in Washington DC did not immediately respond when contacted by TechCrunch.

Dilian also told Reuters that surveillance technologies like the Predator are usually sold only to governments, which are responsible for their legal use.

The The US government imposed sanctions on Dilian in 2024 after the Predator was found to have been used against the phones of US officials and journalists. The sanctions make it illegal for anyone to do business with Dilian and other authorized businesses.