On Tuesday, a full nine months after the first revelations of a spyware scandal that has rocked Greece, authorities in Athens raided the offices of Intellexa, the owner of Predator spyware, and five other connected companies. It was the first real chink in Intellexa’s armour and came after a series of reports in the weekly newspaper Documento that its spyware had been used to snoop on all manner of Greek VIPs – politicians, journalists, businesspeople, and even senior military officers.

The raids come less than a month after a European Parliament inquiry on “Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware” (PEGA) published its report into the use of spyware across the bloc. “The findings of the PEGA inquiry are shocking and they should alarm every European citizen,” concluded the report, after it detailed the extensive use of spyware inside Europe.

Referencing The Currency’s coverage of Intellexa’s Irish operation, published last September, the PEGA inquiry said that Ireland had “become the member state where some of the main spyware companies involved in scandals have registered, due to its fiscal laws”.

Intellexa’s parent company, Thalestris, is based in Ireland, and business is booming. The group has quadrupled its number of employees, to 26, a sure sign of the growing demand for its services. Accounts for 2021, published last week, show the company boosted its revenue from €20 million to €34 million, with the vast majority of its revenue – €29 million – coming from the Middle East. But such is the complexity of Intellexa’s web of partners and subsidiaries – in Ireland, Cyprus, Greece, the British Virgin Isles, France, and Hungary – it is possible, perhaps even likely, that this represents only a fraction of the company’s overall revenue. 

Out of sales booked in Ireland, costs including €17.5 million in research and development expenses and a €2.6 million amortisation charge on intellectual property under Ireland’s capital allowances for intangible assets left Thalestris formally in the red for a second year, returning no taxable profit here.

A private jet to visit more and more client countries

The primary figure behind Intellexa, Tal Dilian, a former general in the Israeli intelligence services, has so far evaded questioning on Intellexa’s operations. Repeated requests for comment by the PEGA inquiry went unanswered, and repeated media requests for comment, including by The Currency, have been met with silence.

What is clear is that Intellexa, under the shield of offices in Greece and Ireland, which it claims make the company “EU-regulated,” has been working hard to add to its client list. A jet used by Intellexa to transport and sell its software and equipment to countries like Sudan, and to travel to its reported client countries like Egypt, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, has crisscrossed Europe and the Middle East relentlessly since the beginning of 2021, visiting some of the region’s most repressive states. 

A joint investigation by Greek and Israeli journalists revealed the jet was used to deliver spyware to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group linked to the notorious Janjaweed militia. Greek authorities confirmed to The New York Times that an export license had been granted to Intellexa to sell its software to Madagascar, another state with a chequered history of cracking down on dissent.

Intellexa has become notorious for dealing with customers that even competitors like NSO Group, the owner of the Pegasus spyware, wouldn’t even touch; €13.6 million would get you everything you needed to hack enemies of the state, according to a pitch document acquired by The New York Times that was presented to Ukraine last year. 

The list of countries where Predator has been detected continues to expand: Meta, the parent company of Facebook, and CitizenLab, the University of Toronto laboratory that first revealed the scale of Predator’s operations last December, have identified the spyware’s use in Armenia, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Madagascar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Colombia, Ivory Coast, Vietnam, the Philippines and Germany.

John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at CitizenLab, told The Currency there was a “desperate need” for the European Union and its member states to take action. “The spiralling European spyware crisis is a clear indication that there is no serious regulation,” he said.

Despite the reports on Ireland’s role in facilitating Intellexa’s operations, and the ticking-off Ireland received from the PEGA inquiry for its role in Intellexa’s tax facilitation, the Irish government has yet to comment.

Freedom-of-information requests sent by The Currency to the Department of Environment, Climate, and Communications, the department responsible for cybersecurity, were rejected on national security grounds. An Garda Síochána told The Currency that the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau had not received any reports regarding the use of Predator spyware in the state and that it was not currently investigating any of Intellexa’s activities in Ireland.

“We have to be very careful, reputationally, about the types of companies we attract for tax reasons.”

Barry Andrews MEP

That may be about to change. On Tuesday, Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews, again citing The Currency’s reporting, raised the issue in the European Parliament, calling for Irish authorities to take action. “Thalestris should be investigated by both the Irish Revenue and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, and I would also encourage the Irish government to investigate the links between Ireland and the surveillance spyware industry,” Andrews said.

Speaking to The Currency, Andrews said he had requested that the Oireachtas Justice Committee investigate further.

The Corporate Enforcement Authority and Revenue were both contacted for comment, but have yet to respond.

“Ireland has a particular vulnerability, as we don’t have a strong cybersecurity framework, and we have to be very careful, reputationally, about the types of companies we attract for tax reasons,” Andrews told The Currency. “The fact that this spyware is used against journalists, MEPs, and politicians, and an Irish holding company is responsible for its sale to groups like the Janjaweed is truly incredible.” 

While authorities dither, Intellexa continues to rack up the air miles. In November, its favourite jet landed in Rabat, the capital of Morocco, a country where authorities employ a wide array of measures, including digital surveillance, to “crush dissent,” according to a Human Rights Watch report published last July.

Across the world, activists, journalists, politicians, and others are operating under the watchful eye of Predator, with their freedom – and even their lives – under threat. In Ireland, meanwhile, the cash flows in, unhindered and tax-free.

Further reading

Why Greeks don’t care about their Watergate that threatens their government’s standing in Europe