He’s known as the Greek Robin Hood and is currently a fugitive who has escaped twice
from a high-security prison by helicopter.
Despite being a criminal, he has achieved fame and popularity for giving most of his
money to the poor and claiming not to have physically hurt a single person during his
crimes.
Vassilis Palaiokostas was born in 1966.
He grew up in a small village on a mountain in central Greece.
After growing up in the mountains, he did not have much in the way of education or skills.
One talent he did possess was knowing how to steal, and he did so to earn his living.
After moving to the town of Trikala at the age of 13 with his family, Palaiokostas and
his older brother were allegedly responsible for 27 robberies.
He was a petty thief until he and his brother met another thief called Costas Samaras but
known as “The Artist”.
The Artist was a more experienced and sophisticated robber and the three of them moved onto raiding
jewellery stores and banks together, doing so for most of the 1980s.
Palaiokostas was very difficult to catch because of his relationship with money.
He gave his money to the poor.
He was particularly generous to anybody who would help him or shelter him.
He also lived like a peasant, without any flashy possessions that would garner the attention
of the authorities.
Palaiokostas’ brother was jailed and in 1990 Palaiokostas himself was arrested for
driving a stolen tank through a prison wall to try and rescue his brother.
In 1991, he escaped by using bed sheets to climb over a wall to freedom.
In 1992, they raided a bank, taking £360,000 worth of currency in cash.
It was the biggest cash robbery in Greek history.
As they were being chased by the police, they threw some of the cash out of the windows
of their getaway car, causing pandemonium in the streets.
With the popularity of credit cards, the amount of cash held in banks was reduced.
More security measures were also introduced.
Palaiokostas moved from bank robberies to kidnapping.
In 1995, he kidnapped a billionaire factory owner and demanded a ransom of 260 million
drachmas, which is about £1.2 million in today’s money.
The ransom was paid and the businessman was released.
He distributed some of the money to local farmers, orphans and the homeless.
Four years later, the authorities eventually caught Palaiokostas after he crashed his car
and suffered a head injury.
He was sent to a prison on the island of Corfu, but was transferred to a maximum-security
prison near Athens after guards discovered plans of the jail in his cell.
Palaiokostas was seven years into his 25 year sentence in 2006, when he was involved in
a prison breakout.
This time his brother was coming to help him.
He and an accomplice hijacked a sight-seeing helicopter and forced the pilot to fly to
the prison at gunpoint.
The guards thought that the helicopter arriving was a visit from prison inspectors.
By the time they realised it was a breakout, it was too late.
Palaiokostas and his cellmate had jumped in the helicopter and flown off.
They flew to a nearby cemetery, where they transferred to motorcycles and continued to
flee.
Palaiokostas was re-captured two years later, in 2008, after being tracked down following
another kidnapping of a billionaire businessman.
The ransom was reportedly 12 million euros.
He was returned to the same prison and the same cell.
The following year, Palaiokostas escaped from the jail by helicopter again.
A helicopter was again hijacked, this time by a glamorous woman who with a machine gun
and a hand grenade, forced the pilot to fly to the prison.
Rope ladders were lowered over the prison courtyard and Palaiokostas and his cellmate
climbed up them to get onboard.
They left to the sound of gunfire from the prison guards and cheering from the other
inmates.
The woman fired back with her machine gun but no injuries were reported.
The guards did manage to shoot and hit the helicopter’s fuel tank and they had to make
an emergency landing before escaping in a getaway car.
Since then Palaiokostas has stayed on the run.
There have been epic man hunts to try and find him but all that has been discovered
are bank notes containing the serial numbers from his ransoms and bank robberies.
He continues to be Greece’s most wanted man, continues to give millions to the poor
and continues to be a folk hero among many of his countrymen.