Vodafone has been thrust ever deeper into an embarrassing eavesdropping scandal in Greece after a supreme court prosecutor said the death of the firm's leading software engineer in Athens was directly linked to the affair.
A "causal connection" between the apparent suicide of Costas Tsalikides, Vodafone's network planning manager in Greece, and the discovery of devices used to listen to conversations of senior officials, was proved during an investigation of the matter, said the prosecutor, Dimitris Linos. "If there had not been the phone tapping, there would not have been a suicide," he said.
Announcing the findings of the four-month investigation into the 39-year-old technician's death, Mr Linos ruled out foul play. But his statements will ensure the plot thickens in the scandal.
The tale of intrigue and espionage, which has implicated the Greek prime minister, Costas Karamanlis, most of his cabinet and the armed forces' heads, has rocked the country since the government went public over the scandal. It was covered in a local newspaper in February.
The spying, which saw the portable phones of the officials being monitored by "persons unknown" for nearly a year before and after the 2004 Athens Olympics, has come to be dubbed the Greek Watergate.
Rarely, say cognoscenti, has the discovery of rogue software so illuminated the underhand methods of the intelligence services in an increasingly competitive world. Before the Games, Greece was under pressure to acquire expensive security systems from its Nato allies.
In addition to Mr Linos' inquiry, judicial and parliamentary investigations are seeking to determine who was behind the extraordinary spy network.
The bugging equipment was unearthed in Vodafone's central systems in March 2005. It was almost instantly, and controversially, dismantled at the request of the firm's chief executive, George Koronias.
Mr Tsalikides, who was found hanging from a pipe in his bathroom a day after the discovery of the devices, has long been seen as key to solving the mystery.
From the outset, Vodafone has fiercely denied a link between the British-trained technician's death and the imbroglio. A spokesman in the UK, where the mobile phone firm is based, declined to comment on the Greek prosecutor's findings.
But the lawyer for Mr Tsalikides' family told the Guardian the latest development provided further evidence that the engineer took his life after stumbling across the illegal wiretaps.
"Costas had access to Vodafone's bugged centres and probably discovered others who also had access," said Themis Sofos. "We believe that after accidently finding the taps he received threats."