Greece to hire 40 enforcement staff as illegal gambling crackdown tightens in 2025

Greece’s Hellenic Gaming Commission (EEEP) is expanding its Inspection and Enforcement division with 40 new hires, as the government pushes harder against illegal gambling, social media promotion and tax leakage. For PSPs and acquirers in the market, the important bit is simple: the enforcement state is getting better staffed, better funded and less patient.

1. The recruitment drive follows anti-illegal gambling legislation passed in June, which expands the EEEP’s permanent staff from 80 to 110. The new roles will sit in enforcement, IT and cybersecurity, and market surveillance and intelligence, with applications open to permanent public sector employees, staff from eligible public bodies and private-sector IT firms.
2. Minister of National Economy and Finance Kyriakos Pierrakakis said black market gambling in Greece was worth around €1.8bn in 2025 and involved approximately 900,000 participants. The government has estimated €400m in lost annual revenue, which explains why the crackdown is being framed not just as a licensing issue but as a tax-recovery exercise.
3. The EEEP said regulated Greek gambling revenue rose 6.7 per cent in 2025, with gross gaming revenue (GGR) from licensed operators reaching €3.07bn. In other words, the legal market is still growing while the regulator is trying to squeeze the leakage around it.
4. Penalties have been sharpened as well. Operators found running illegal games of chance now face prison terms of at least 10 years and fines of €50,000 to €700,000, while more serious violations — including operating on a professional or commercial scale, involving minors, or reopening premises shut down by authorities — can trigger fines of between €100,000 and €800,000 plus a minimum 10-year custodial sentence.
5. Investigators are already examining complaints against 18 influencers accused of promoting illegal gambling online. That is the part payment teams tend to care about: enforcement is no longer aimed only at offshore sites and street-level shops, but also at traffic drivers and marketing channels that help illegal operators acquire customers.

The EEEP’s expanded enforcement division is part of a broader shift toward digital surveillance and targeted investigations. For high-risk operators and their payment partners, Greece is signalling that the cost of visibility, distribution and settlement in the black market is going up.