From the outside, it was just another office block on Kifisos Avenue, a traffic-choked artery on Athens' working-class western edge.
By Katia Niakari
Greek police say that inside was the nerve center of one of the largest fraud schemes uncovered in the country in years.
Investigators say Angelos Giannakopoulos, owner of the popular Horiatiko bakery chain, ran an alleged criminal network from the building in the suburb of Peristeri.
The network is accused of evading taxes and social security contributions worth more than 100 million euros, or about $116 million.
The building had been tied to him, his relatives or close associates since 2015, according to police files reported by Greek media on Tuesday.
On the first floor, Mr. Giannakopoulos kept a private office that no one could enter without his consent. Downstairs, an accounting firm run by an 86-year-old suspect allegedly kept the books and payroll for dozens of companies in the network.
The rent was 10,360 euros a month.
The companies registered there showed what investigators call telltale signs: a constant churn of managers and the same address used again and again.
One listed manager died in May. That month and the next, nearly every lease in the building was canceled almost at once. Companies were dissolved and shares were handed to new front men.
Police see this as a deliberate effort to erase the trail leading back to the man at the top.
Surveillance logged dozens of visits by Mr. Giannakopoulos this year, some lasting hours, in which he met at least 11 core members of the network as associates carried files and bags in and out.
A 47-year-old woman allegedly ran the office on his behalf.
When a police officer once reached him by phone, the files say, he gave his name as "Zois" and referred the caller to her.
Fifty-nine suspects were charged on Monday. All are presumed innocent.