A Greek court on Thursday sentenced the founder of Intellexa, a collective of spyware makers, to eight years in prison for illegal wiretapping and privacy violations, according to several reports.

Tal Dilian and three other Intellexa executives were tried for their role in a scandal dubbed “Greek Watergate,” which dates back to 2022.

The Greek government was accused of wiretapping the phones of politicians, journalists, businesspeople, and military officials with spyware developed by Intellexa.

The other people sentenced today include Dilian’s business partner Sara Aleksandra Fayssal Hamou; his former deputy administrator and shareholder of Intellexa, Felix Bitzios; and Yiannis Lavranos, who owned a company linked to Intellexa. Dilian did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.

This is the first known time a spyware maker has been sentenced to jail following the misuse of their technology.

government sanctioned Intellexa and several of its linked companies, Dilian, and Hamou, for their role in developing its spyware, known as Predator, used in the targeting of Americans, including government officials and journalists. The court ordered authorities to further investigate, and stayed the sentence pending appeal

Highlighted sentences link to their corresponding claims. Click any highlighted sentence to jump to its detailed analysis.
Highlight Colors Indicate Claim Quality:
✓ Healthy Claim - No fallacies or contradictions detected
⚠️ Minor Issues - Has contradictions or minor fallacies
🚨 Serious Issues - Multiple contradictions or severe fallacies
Quality Criteria: Claims are evaluated for logical fallacies and contradictions with other news sources. Green highlights indicate healthy claims suitable for reference.
Source