How a Greek airline grew to become a hub for sanctioned elites and shadow networks

On the afternoon of Monday 30 June 2025, a Boeing 737-446 of the Greek airline Air Mediterranean registered as SX-MAT landed at Damascus International Airport. It was the primary passenger flight from Athens to the Syrian capital because the fall of Bashar al-Assad. The flight of this comparatively unknown airline and its enthusiastic passengers have been greeted by a delegation, which, in response to posts on social media, consisted of the Greek ambassador, Emmanuel Kakavelakis, some representatives of the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority, and an unknown man wearing white, who was stated to be the president of a Lebanon-based firm known as Arkhos.

Later, wearing a black go well with, throughout a celebratory occasion in Damascus for the launch of Air Mediterranean’s new routes from Vienna, Cologne and Berlin to Syria by way of Athens, the identical man would state: “While larger airways confronted obstacles in scheduling flights to Syria, as a non-public airline from Greece, we have been in a position to overcome them.”

The man who was talking as if he have been Air Mediterranean’s consultant is Mohamad Majd Deiry. And he has one other capability aside from that of a businessman: he’s wished by the FBI since 2021 for unlawful arms trafficking and cash laundering. His title is included in the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions record. According to the latter, Deiry, alongside together with his Lebanese affiliate Samer Rayya and their firm, Black Shield, have not less than since 2015 “brokered weapons offers and provided air transport providers within the Middle East and Africa” with the usage of shell firms in Cyprus (S. Group Airlines Ltd, Centuronic Ltd) and in Turkey. According to the OFAC sanction record, they “maintained relationships with people allegedly linked to the Syrian authorities and engaged in enterprise exercise on behalf of the Iranian regime”.

Data from the Syrian Commercial Registry exhibits that Deiry has run a enterprise in his personal title since 1986, buying and selling in supplies permitted by the state. In 2018, Deiry appeared in Greece and declared himself to be a everlasting resident with an tackle much like that of the “Aliens & Migration Directorate of the Southern Sector”. His fundamental affiliate, Rayya, was arrested at Athens’ “Eleftherios Venizelos” airport in 2022. According to a latest report by iMEdD, he remained in custody in Athens for 16 days and was launched on bail on the situation that he didn’t go away the nation whereas awaiting trial. However, he didn’t present up on the trial in February 2023.

Why is a Syrian arms vendor with an impressive worldwide arrest warrant in opposition to him, whose affiliate is on the run, talking on behalf of a Greek airline in Syria? What will we find out about Air Mediterranean, which was working flights to Damascus throughout Assad’s regime in 2023, when no different European airline did the identical?

In a co-publication with the Mediterranean Institute for Investigative Journalism (MIIR), SIRAJ (Syria), Daraj (Lebanon), L’Espresso (Italy), Voxeurop right now presents a case that reads like a movie noir script, have been it not actual life. The collection of occasions holds each Greek and European authorities to account and unfolds in Greece, Cyprus, Syria, Libya, Italy, Lebanon and Dubai. The case entails the household of a distinguished Lebanese businessman who has been recognized to the Greek political elite because the time of socialist prime minister Andreas Papandreou (in workplace from 1981 to 1989 and from 1993 to 1996).

It additionally entails an inter-company “civil conflict”, allegations of mismanagement and monetary irregularities, transactions by Cyprus, a person wished for arms trafficking, and a convicted drug kingpin with hyperlinks to the unlawful trafficking of migrants to and from Libya. This cross-border investigation additionally reveals that two people on the coronary heart of this story have a pending Interpol “crimson discover”, to which the Greek police and judicial authorities have but to reply.

From take-off to turbulence

Air Mediterranean (Mediterranean Airlines S.A.) was established on 1st September 2015, by three people: Hamad Ali Al-Thani, one of many founders of Qatar Airways and Chairman of Blue Air Leasing primarily based within the United Arab Emirates, on one hand, and the Greek-Lebanese brothers Fadi Elias Hallak and Andreas Hallak on the opposite. They are the sons of the highly effective and influential Lebanese businessman George Hallak (or Hallaq or Challak), recognized for his heat friendship with Andreas Papandreou, his shut ties with the Greek political elite, and with as soon as distinguished Middle Eastern leaders, corresponding to Palestinian Yasser Arafat (1929-2004) and Syrian Hafez Al Assad (1930-2000).

Earlier stories recognized George Hallak because the mastermind behind a scheme that generated funds for the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) by the acquisition of airways and duty-free outlets in a number of nations. This transfer might allegedly have facilitated the smuggling of varied illicit items.

George Hallak himself, who’s 85 years outdated right now, doesn’t seem within the firm’s paperwork, whereas his spouse Nada seems to be serving as president. Marios Samprakos, a former pilot, was appointed as the present accountable supervisor in 2021. However, the corporate is managed and trades by a community of Cyprus-based firms.

Between 2018 and 2021, two people related to the Lebanese financial institution Levant Investment Bank (Libank), which invested funds within the firm, sat on Air Mediterranean’s Board of Directors. However, the financial institution is now allegedly accusing Air Mediterranean, particularly Andreas and George Hallak, of fraud and embezzling €6.61 million. Consequently, a Red Notice was issued by Interpol on 17 April 2024 on the request of the Lebanese authorities.

The provisional arrest warrant in query makes no point out of the third brother, Fadi Hallak, who, in response to media stories and different info examined by Voxeurop and its companions, has been in open battle together with his household since 2022. According to Interpol’s discover, nonetheless, the costs might carry a most sentence of three years in jail. It stays unknown whether or not the Greek authorities have responded to the request for the provisional arrest and extradition of the Hallaks to Lebanon. We have reached out to the Hellenic Police however haven’t but acquired a response.

But how did all of it start? From its inception, the Hallaks promised to supply high-end passenger and cargo providers between Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. On 2 November 2017, Air Mediterranean operated its first passenger flight, celebrating with a glittering occasion just a few days earlier attended by a number of political and spiritual friends. Despite the preliminary publicity, nonetheless, the airline’s exercise remained restricted till 2019, specializing in constitution flights to Larnaca, Stockholm, London (Stansted), Baghdad, Casablanca, Khartoum and Jeddah.

In 2020, amid the pandemic, flights have been diminished, however different alternatives emerged. One such alternative was the International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM) Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programme, which was co-financed by the EU and nationwide funds. On 6 August 2020, the airline operated a constitution flight to implement the voluntary return of 134 Iraqi migrants beneath the auspices of the Ministry of Migration.

An IOM spokesperson confirmed that the organisation had coordinated the operation and the aggressive bidding course of, which Air Mediterranean had gained. They added that “this stays the one AVRR flight carried out with that airline”. However, we all know that in 2024, the corporate carried out eight comparable voluntary return flights from Italy to Tunisia in collaboration with the Italian ministry of the Interior.

The “boarding” of a wished drug vendor

In November 2021, George Hallak travelled with Marios Samprakos to Syria, the place he met the minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Fassyal Mikdad. This was one in every of a number of journeys that George Hallak had taken to the area, not as a Lebanese businessman, however as a diplomatic envoy of Guyana’s president. In truth, he acted in his capability because the state’s “minister of Southern Europe and the Middle East”, a rustic thought of a tax haven in Latin America. As effectively as his ties with Guyana, George Hallak maintained a relationship with Panama till 2023, the place he had arrange an nameless offshore firm known as Fang, named after the actual property funding firm he has owned since 2003 in Greece.

Around that point, Air Mediterranean started contemplating working routes to Syria, at a time when different European airways weren’t doing so, as a result of conflict and current sanctions. In September 2022, Syrian Eyad Esleem, a person who reportedly was on good phrases with Assad’s wider circle, settles in Athens and begins working for Air Mediterranean as a industrial supervisor. 

Esleem additionally acted because the mandated consultant of Freebird Travel Agency (Al-Tair Al-Hurr for Tourism), which, as set out within the “General Agency for the Sale of Passenger and Cargo Transport Services” contract signed by the 2 firms on 28 September 2022, can be the only company issuing tickets for Air Mediterranean in Syria for one yr.

Things transfer ahead, and on 9 March 2023, the Greek airline operates the primary passenger flight from a European service to Damascus since 2012.

At this level, critical questions will be raised concerning the oversight of the Greek and European authorities that allowed this partnership and flight path to be established, in addition to the service’s personal obligations. The fundamental causes are as follows:

1. In addition to being an company for Air Mediterranean, Freebird can also be an company for Cham Wings Airlines (FLYCHAM). This notorious Syrian airline operated routes between Syria and Libya and was accused of being concerned within the unlawful trafficking of mercenaries, migrants and medicines. It can also be on OFAC’s sanctions record. Previous investigative reporting by Reporters United, SIRAJ, Lighthouse Reports, Der Spiegel and El País has proved that a number of of the 750 migrants who have been on the Adriana fishing boat, which sank off the coast of Pylos on 14 June 2023 within the deadliest shipwreck within the Mediterranean, have been transported from Damascus to Benghazi by way of Cham Wings. This concerned offering faux journey paperwork to passengers, who allegedly paid $4,500 for the ill-fated voyage.

2. Freebird belongs to the Al-Daj Group (often known as the Al-Dj or Daj Commercial Group), which was based and is run by the Syrian-Libyan businessman Mahmoud Al-Daj (often known as Al-Dj or Daj). He is among the strongest businessmen in Syria’s logistics and tourism sectors and has sturdy ties to the Assad regime, for which he supplied supporting providers. Through the Al-Daj Group, unlawful transactions such because the switch of arms, mercenaries, and medicines between japanese Libya beneath General Haftar and Syria have been allegedly facilitated.

3. Mahmoud Al-Daj and his firm, Al-Ta’ir, are behind the coordination of operations to move unlawful shipments of the Captagon drug to Libya. This features a cargo of Captagon and hashish value over $100 million that was seized by Greek authorities from the ship Noka off the coast of Crete on 12 May 2018. The ship had set sail for Benghazi from the Syrian port of Latakia. Evidence of Al-Daj’s unlawful actions was introduced as early as 2021 in investigations by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), The New Arab and Der Spiegel.

Al-Daj was sentenced to dying by firing squad in absentia by a Benghazi court docket in 2019 for his actions. In 2024, Al-Daj’s firm, Al Ayadi Al Zahabiah (“Golden Hands”), was additionally behind the switch of two,000 Syrian staff to Libya. There, they have been compelled to work in situations resembling labour focus camps, as Syrian journalists have been in a position to uncover. The contract between Freebird and Air Mediterranean for the Athens–Damascus flights was signed by Al-Daj and Andreas Hallak.

4. As of 2024, Mahmoud Al-Daj, the Al-Daj Group, Freebird and Al-Ta’ir are on the OFAC and European Union sanctions record. As of 1 July 2025, OFAC’s record grew to become the “Promoting Accountability for Assad” (PAARSS) record.

Although the Greek authorities have been conscious of Al-Daj’s felony actions, the corporate Free Bird Hellas SA was established in Athens on 24 May 2023. According to the Greek enterprise registry, the corporate’s founders are Eyad Esleem and Mahmoud Daj. The latter is listed as a “businessman of Syrian nationality” and is registered with a Greek VAT quantity and a residence tackle in Glyfada, an Athenian suburb. The firm, described as a journey company, will stay in operation till April 2024.

How was a wished drug trafficker in a position to safe a private VAT quantity and a registered workplace for his enterprise in Greece with out the authorities taking motion?

Air Mediterranean’s flights to and from Damascus continued weekly from March till October 2023. A Freebird Facebook submit additionally introduced the airline’s enlargement to European cities, stating that, as “an agent of Greek Mediterranean Airlines, it will function flights from Europe to Damascus and vice versa by way of Athens, beginning on 14 May 2023.

Tickets have been issued in Syria by the Freebird web page; nonetheless, in response to sources within the nation, it’s alleged that, by this company, events might additionally get hold of faux journey paperwork.

Since 2 June, we’ve repeatedly requested knowledge from the Hellenic Police relating to the arrests of international nationals with faux visas at Athens Airport in 2023, in addition to info on the routes and airways concerned. However, on the time of publication we’ve acquired no reply. 

According to knowledge collected from Flightradar24, the airline operated 18 flights between Damascus and Benghazi between May and July 2023, and 52 flights from Benghazi to Athens between December 2022 and July 2023 (however not vice versa).

However, it’s unclear precisely who the airline served, and the way it might assure that it will not carry “people who collaborated with the Syrian regime or have been on the US sanctions record”, as operations director Marios Samprakos assured. This is as a result of the airline wanted the Assad authorities’s permission to function in Syria. It can also be unclear what ensures have been in place to make sure the security of flights in Syrian and Libyan airspace.

Given the above, in addition to the corporate’s relationship with Mohammad Majd Deiry, a brand new affiliate in Syria who’s on the FBI’s “Most Wanted” record, we addressed inquiries to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Greek Police. We acquired no response.

The EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) confirmed that it had carried out audits on the airline in 2024. However, we didn’t obtain a response from the related Directorate of the European Commission. In Greece, the Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that Air Mediterranean had supplied the required documentation to acquire a licence to function flights. However, they added that they aren’t answerable for checking passengers or items coming into or transiting the nation.

In an in depth response to MIIR, Libank — who stays a GMT Aviation shareholder in Cyprus, one in every of Air Mediterranean’s shareholders — claims that “as a consequence of GMT’s and LIBANK’s whole exclusion from Air Mediterranean, we weren’t concerned or conscious of any of its actions, aside from these which grew to become obtainable in public information sources. Given that, we’re utterly unaware of Air Mediterranean’s cooperation with Freebird, Arkhos OFFSHORE Sal and Mr. Deiry, in addition to the flights operated between Athens and Damascus in March 2023”. Regarding its dispute with Andrew and George Hallak, Libank confirms that it has pursued the lads, in addition to Nada Hallak, “for felony organised fraud within the Beirut courts. Libank was profitable in acquiring an indictment from the prosecutor, in addition to a world arrest warrant for George and Andreas Hallak”.

Air Mediterranean didn’t reply to our questions.

Hallak vs. Hallak

Who is finally answerable for these enterprise selections? What are the Greek authorities doing? A doc that sheds mild on it is a letter allegedly drafted and despatched in February 2024 by Fadi Elias Hallak, an oblique shareholder and, till just lately, a board member of Air Mediterranean, to the regulation agency Noble Trust, which represents the airline’s fundamental shareholder, the Cypriot firm Pantrelalo Trading Limited. In the letter, which was examined by MIIR, Fadi Hallak refers back to the Board of Directors of Air Mediterranean taking unilateral actions in opposition to him, which he believes have harmed him financially. He additionally accuses the administration of not permitting him entry to firm data.

Fadi Hallak accuses his brother Andreas, his father George, and their associates of “cooking and faking the monetary and operational books and data of Air Mediterranean all through flight operations since 2017”, claims that the “cargo harmful items manifest is misrepresented, and the true knowledge is hidden from all authorities”, and denounces “critical breaches of economic, fiduciary, security, safety, and operational duties”.

The letter additionally mentions that Mahmoud Al-Daj usually visited George and Andreas within the places of work of AirMed and visited the house of George and Nada Hallak a number of occasions. Fadi Hallak additionally claims that his father George Hallak “continues to make use of his connections to bribe and make use of steady intimidation ways’ and expresses concern for his life and that of his household.”

Neither Andreas nor George Hallak responded to our questions. We contacted Fadi Hallak individually. He confirmed the existence of the letter and knowledgeable us that he has taken court docket and extrajudicial motion in opposition to the corporate, of which he stays an oblique shareholder. He additional acknowledged: “In my effort since January 2022, by the judicial establishments and the impartial authorities in Greece and Cyprus, to carry out the reality about the best way Air Mediterranean operates, I’ve up to now encountered solely inexplicable useless ends. I now hope that the unlawful acts and people answerable for the actions of this airline will likely be revealed, and that the leaders of the judiciary will likely be mobilised to fulfil their not-so-self-evident responsibility.”

The newest developments

According to legal professionals concerned within the case, the data and allegations made by Fadi Hallak in his letter have been acquired by a deputy prosecutor of appeals, who’s wanting into forwarding them to the Anti-Money Laundering Authority. The Athens Public Prosecutor’s Office additionally has the letter in its possession following a lawsuit by a Greek state public physique and is anticipated to confirm the allegations made by Fadi Hallak. No recognized developments within the case have been obtainable previous to publication.

Air Mediterranean’s flights to Syria have been suspended in October 2023, shortly earlier than EU sanctions on Al-Daj and his firms got here into impact on 22 January 2024. Flights to Damascus resumed a month in the past and are presently working by one other company, Almera Travel & Tourism.

FBI fugitive weapons smuggler Mohamad Majd Deiry is making public appearances in Damascus amid the brand new political and social setting now rising within the nation.

The Hallak civil conflict remains to be raging. The Red Notice issued for George and Andrew Hallak has not been enforced.

It stays unclear what Greek and European authorities are doing to make sure that the Greek service and its companions, in addition to different airline firms, keep out of unlawful actions and that passenger security shouldn’t be compromised.

Little is understood concerning the actions of the convicted Mahmoud Al-Daj after the autumn of the Assad regime, aside from a single Facebook submit on 31 December 2024. In it, Al-Daj boasts concerning the arrival of the primary ship on the port of Latakia, loaded with vehicles and buses. ‘A brand new achievement that embodies our imaginative and prescient and ambition… for the yr 2025’, he wrote — a sign of his intention to proceed doing enterprise in Syria. He later deleted the submit.

His whereabouts stay unknown.

On 6 August, following the preliminary publication of the investigation, the Hellenic Police despatched us knowledge itemizing arrests made at Athens Eleftherios Venizelos Airport, for unlawful entry into the nation with the usage of cast/altered paperwork from Arab and African nations of departure through the yr 2023,  together with the airways used to reach in Greece. The knowledge mentions 8 arrests involving Syria because the nation of departure. However, within the desk recording these 8 arrests, the airline the arrested passengers flew with from Syria is listed as “Unknown” in 7 of the circumstances – a designation not discovered for every other nation – whereas the remaining entry is left clean. We requested clarifications from the Hellenic Police as to why this particular info was omitted, however we’ve not acquired a response to this point.

Before the publication of this investigation, a number of requests for reply and clarifications have been despatched to Air Mediterranean and George and Andreas Hallak, however all remained unanswered. After the investigation was first revealed in Greece, MIIR and EfSyn acquired a judicial warning from Air Mediterranean and George and Andreas Hallak, who deny any reference to Mohamad Majd Deiry, reject the accusations of fraud and embezzlement within the Libank affair, and admit to their collaboration with Mahmoud Al-Daj. We will publish these judicial warnings, in addition to our response, within the coming days.

🤝 This investigation was developed with the assist of Journalismfund Europe