Vassilis Palaiokostas ( el, Βασίλης Παλαιοκώστας; born 17 May 1966 at Moschofyto, Trikala regional unit) is a Greek

bank robber Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank Branch (banking), branch or Bank teller, tell ...

and fugitive known as the "Greek Robin Hood" for his habit of giving away stolen money to the poor. He twice escaped by helicopter from the Greek high-security

Korydallos prison Korydallos Prison Complex is Greece's largest jail and contains the country's main maximum-security prison (Type B), housing both maximum-security men and women. It is located in Korydallos, Piraeus. Famous detainees include members of the anarc ...

while serving a 25-year sentence. He is still free, earning him the nickname "the uncatchable". He wrote an autobiography entitled ''A Normal Life'', published in November 2021 by Freedom Press.

Biography

Palaiokostas grew up in a small village in the mountains in central Greece. He is believed to have planned the kidnapping of Giorgos Mylonas, a Greek industrialist, as the ransom paid was traced back to him. His brother Nikos Palaiokostas is in prison for 16 bank robberies. Palaiokostas has become famous for his habit of giving most of the stolen money to poor families, making him a local "Robin of the Poor", reminiscent of the famous tale of Robin Hood. In 2000 he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 1995 kidnapping of Alexander Haitoglou, the CEO of

Haitoglou Bros Haitoglou Bros S.A. is a Greece, Greek food manufacturing and processing company. Headquartered in Thessaloniki, Greece, the company began in 1924 as a small halva producer and gradually expanded its product range to include tahini and several ot ...

2006 escape

On the afternoon of Sunday 4 June, two accomplices hired a trip on a sight-seeing helicopter from

Agios Kosmas Agios Kosmas ( el, Άγιος Κοσμάς) is a village, a community and a municipal unit of the Grevena municipality. Before the 2011 local government reform it was an independent municipality. The municipality was established in 1997 with the n ...

, a coastal suburb of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. They hijacked the helicopter using a pistol and hand grenade, and forced the pilot to fly to the prison. When the helicopter arrived, guards believed the helicopter was a visit from prison inspectors. The helicopter flew the prisoners to a cemetery nearby, where they transferred to motorcycles and fled from there. Palaiokostas was re-captured two years later, on August 2, 2008, in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

2009 escape

On the afternoon of Sunday 22 February, Palaiokostas again escaped from Athens'

Korydallos Prison Korydallos Prison Complex is Greece's largest jail and contains the country's main maximum-security prison (Type B), housing both maximum-security men and women. It is located in Korydallos, Piraeus. Famous detainees include members of the anarc ...

by helicopter. He and his cellmate Alket Rizai, 34, climbed a rope ladder thrown to them by a female passenger in the helicopter as it flew over the prison courtyard. Guards on the ground opened fire and the woman fired back with an automatic rifle. No injuries were reported due to the short gun fight, although one prison guard injured himself while trying to pull out his gun. Police said an elderly couple found the helicopter abandoned in the Athenian suburb of

Kapandriti Kapandriti ( el, Καπανδρίτι) is a town in the north of East Attica in Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Oropos, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 36.789 k ...

near a highway north of Athens, with its fuel tank leaking from a bullet hole. The pilot was bound and gagged, with a hood over his head. He told police the helicopter was chartered by a couple who said they wanted to go from the town of Itea in

central Greece Continental Greece ( el, Στερεά Ελλάδα, Stereá Elláda; formerly , ''Chérsos Ellás''), colloquially known as Roúmeli (Ρούμελη), is a traditional geographic region of Greece. In English, the area is usually called Central ...

to Athens. The couple had chartered the helicopter a number of times in the previous weeks, with the woman posing as a business woman. According to the pilot, who claimed to have been forced into taking part in the escape, Palaiokostas and Rizai were delivered to a getaway car. The government of Greece faced intense criticism after his second escape from the same facility, and the government responded by firing three justice ministry officials and arresting three prison guards. Palaiokostas is still at large with a one-million euro bounty placed on him for information leading to his arrest. His accomplice Alket Rizai was re-arrested in November 2009.

Biography

2006 escape

2009 escape

See also

References

Further reading