Arrest of 'Potato' in Pieria villa: accused over 12 Ferrari and Lamborghini vehicles
Bulgarian Julian Yankov was arrested on Sunday in a villa in Pieria following a four-month search with a European arrest warrant.
Bulgarian wanted man 'Potato' arrested in villa in Pieria
Bulgarian Julian Yankov, widely known by the nickname 'Potato', was arrested on Sunday, 4 October, at around 10:00 in the morning, in a villa in the Kokkinos area of Pieria. According to the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), which reported the news, the Greek authorities had been searching for Yankov for four months on the basis of a European arrest warrant issued by a court in Stara Zagora in July 2026.
The arrest operation was carried out in cooperation between the Bulgarian police, FAST Greece, and the competent Greek security services. According to the Bulgarian authorities, the wanted man had been living in the Pieria villa in order to avoid arrest. After being located, he was taken to Thessaloniki for the initiation of the legal procedure for executing the warrant and his extradition to Bulgaria.
As reported by Ta Nea, Yankov is accused of unlawfully appropriating five passenger vehicles, six lorries and one trailer between 3 October and 28 November 2025. The vehicles belonged to a company in Stara Zagora, with which he is said to have concluded rental and sales contracts. The list of vehicles includes cars of Mercedes, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche.
The Bulgarian authorities claim that Yankov stopped paying the stipulated instalments during 2025 and subsequently refused to return the vehicles, despite official notices sent to him. The Bulgarian National Police Directorate had been systematically searching for him over the past four months.
Following the completion of proceedings in Greece, the prosecution is expected to request from the competent court the remand in custody of the accused.
Source: Ta Nea