Team Member

Mr. Arvanitis is the managing partner and founder of the Firm.

Vassilis holds a bachelor’s degree in law (University of Athens, 2002), an LLM in Maritime Law (University of Bristol, 2004) and a Postgraduate Certificate in International Criminal Law (University of London, 2017).

He was admitted to the Piraeus Bar Association in 2004. As a member of the Hellenic Criminal Bar Association (HCBA) since 2008, Mr. Arvanitis was elected to the board of directors in 2022. He is also affiliated with the European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA).

Vassilis specializes in financial criminal law cases (fraud, embezzlement, bribery, money laundering, corruption, tax, and evasion), extradition proceedings, and cross-border criminal investigations. He also has extensive experience in common criminal offences. Moreover, he has represented several defendants (chief engineers, etc.) in Greece’s most important maritime and aviation accidents.

Vassilis also represents executives of national and multinational corporations embroiled in various crimes, ranging from corruption and breaches of competition/intellectual property laws to health, safety and environmental offences. Furthermore, he frequently acts for many professionals who face criminal charges, including doctors, engineers, bankers and stockbrokers. As he is regularly instructed at the early stages of criminal investigations, Vassilis has developed a wealth of experience managing internal corporate and police investigations of major crimes. As far as the maritime sector is concerned, he has represented well-known Greek vessel owners in cases of extortion and fraud and acted as a criminal compliance counsel in naval contracts. Last but not least, Vassilis advises the senior management of Greek and multinational companies on proactively managing their corporate criminal liability risks and what protocols to develop in incidents that trigger criminal investigations. He is also highly experienced in civil law cases relating to tort and has successfully participated in many contentious hearings before the Civil Courts of Greece.

He has successfully acted as a defence lawyer in many high–profile, white-collar criminal cases that attracted extensive media coverage, indicatively:

– the market manipulation in the Athens Stock Exchange (2010 – 2016),

– the Siemens case, which related to the bribery of Greek public officials that had broader European and international repercussions [2009 – 2021),

– a corruption case against Mr Tsoxatzopoulos, a prominent former minister and his accomplishes (2012- 2018),

– the Folli Follie case for falsifying financial information against the Board of Directors of Folli Follie, one of the most successful Greek multinational companies.

– the accident of flight 522 of Helios Airways, a scheduled passenger flight from Larnaca, Cyprus to Prague, Czech Republic, with a stopover to Athens, Greece, that crashed on 14 August 2005, killing all 121 passengers and crew on board

– the accident of C/L SEA DIAMOND, a cruise ship operated by Louis Hellenic Cruise Lines, that sank on 5 April 2007 after running aground near the Greek island of Santorini, leaving two passengers missing and presumed dead).

In addition, Vassilis has been involved in numerous outstanding cases over the years, each carrying substantial national and international significance. For instance:

– defend the CEO of a large company, part of the multinational audit and consulting group of “Big-4 Consulting” companies.

– management of the bankruptcy and the associated criminal implications of a well-known Greek telecommunications company.

– defence of a Sales Manager of a large British goods distribution company.

– representation of a well-known French energy company accused of fraud and bribery.

– represent, as an opposing party, in a fraud trial involving a US multinational receiving and supply chain management company.

– successful consulting in criminal compliance led to signing an agreement valued at over €200 million between a Greek construction company with international

operations and another company, a member of one of Greece’s most significant infrastructure groups.

– handling criminal cases of one of the largest charcuterie industries in Greece.

Vassilis publications include the following articles:

• Arvanitis V., “Violation of suspect’s rights – Invalidity of pre-trial proceedings – Athens Council of First Instance 1815/2023”, Nova Criminalia 2024, vol. 12 
• Arvanitis V., “The jurisprudential intake and experience of the application of Article 84CC for mitigating circumstances”, Presentation from the event of Piraeus Jurisprudence – Piraeus Bar Association with the Hellenic Association of Criminal Lawyers 03/2024
• Arvanitis V., “Derogations in Medically Assisted Reproduction”, capital.gr 09/2023 
• Arvanitis V., “Seizure of assets arising from illegal activity under Article 42 of Law 4557/2018”, Poiniki Dikaiosini, 2022, pg.550 ff.
• Arvanitis V. (Co), “Violation of the confidentiality of telephone communication and conversation under Greek law”, Lexology, 06/2022
• Arvanitis V. (Co), “Criminal protection of the environment under Greek law”, Lexology 03/2022 · Arvanitis V. (Co), “Protection of information systems and computer programs under Greek law – article 370D of Greek Criminal Code”, Lexology 01/2022
• Arvanitis V., “Distinction of criminal liability between a legal entity and its members. Special cases of lifting the corporate veil, especially on offshore companies”, Nova Criminalia 2021, vol. 14
• Arvanitis V. (Co) “Liability of legal persons under Greek law”, Lexology, 11/2021
• Arvanitis V. (Co) “The European Investigation Order and its application under Greek Law 4489/2017”, Lexology, 09/2021
• Arvanitis V. (Co), “The offence of market manipulation by disseminating misleading or false information”, Lexology, 06/2021

Contact

E-mail: varvanitis@vcalaw.gr