Rhodes: safe theft solved

The theft of a safe from a house at Faliraki on Rhodes was solved on Tuesday 18 August 2026 by officers of the Rhodes Crime Investigation Sub-Directorate, according to an announcement by the Hellenic Police. In the course of the investigation, three United Kingdom nationals, aged 37, 61 and 63, were identified as allegedly involved in the case. The break-in is alleged to have been committed on 22 June 2026, in a period between 18:00 and 22:00, and a safe containing 100,000 euros and 1,200 pounds sterling was taken from the house. No identifying details of those involved are being made public, as the case is at a pre-trial stage and the presumption of innocence applies.

According to the same announcement, the 63-year-old showed officers a hiding place, where 27,730 euros were seized. The other two, aged 37 and 61, are reported to have left the country. The case file that was drawn up was submitted to the Rhodes Public Prosecutor’s Office of First Instance, which will decide on the next steps. The terms used here strictly reflect the wording of the police announcement: identification does not constitute a conviction and the question of guilt is decided exclusively by the courts. It has not become known whether a procedure has been initiated to trace the two individuals who are outside Greece.

The case sheds light on a particular feature of Faliraki and the wider eastern coast of Rhodes. This is an area with a large concentration of holiday homes, rented accommodation and houses that remain closed for long periods, in an environment where the constant turnover of visitors makes it difficult to spot an unusual presence. The large amount of cash kept in a house is also a factor that explains the size of the haul. Cases of this type are usually solved through a combination of camera footage, accommodation records and testimony, work that takes weeks. During the summer season the area’s population multiplies, with the result that the volume of material to be checked, from arrivals and vehicle rentals to camera recordings, is disproportionately large relative to the size of the local services.

A notable feature of this particular case is the gap of almost two months between the act and its solution. That interval reflects both the difficulty of investigations in tourist areas with high turnover and the fact that those travelling by air can have left the country long before the identification is completed. The next steps depend on the prosecutor’s assessment of the case file and on whether international cooperation will be sought for the two who are reported to be abroad, while it has not become known whether the remainder of the money was found. The case is recorded in the field of crime and will subsequently be judged by justice.