Man indicted for obstruction Investigation into 2019 arson at Jewish Religious Center in Arlington

ARLINGTON, Mass. — The brother of a man who was the prime suspect in four fires set at Jewish organizations and a Jewish-affiliated business in the Boston area in 2019 has been indicted on suspicion of obstructing the investigation, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Alexander Giannakakis, 35, formerly of Quincy, who provided security at the U.S. embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, was arrested by Swedish authorities and is awaiting extradition proceedings, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston.

He faces charges of making false statements in a matter involving domestic terrorism; falsifying, concealing, and covering up a material fact in a matter involving domestic terrorism by trick, scheme, and device; concealing records in a federal investigation; tampering with documents and objects, and tampering with an official proceeding.

An email seeking comment was sent to his lawyer.

According to the grand jury indictment, Giannakakis’ now-deceased younger brother was the prime suspect in two fires at the Chabad Center in Arlington, one at the Chabad Center in Needham, and one at a Chelsea business, all set in May 2019.

The younger brother, whose name federal authorities did not disclose, was hospitalized in a coma in November 2019 and died in September 2020 without ever awakening.

Investigators interviewed the suspect’s mother in January 2020, who confirmed her son’s antisemitic views and provided investigators with documents that included what appeared to be the cover page to a charter for a group that law enforcement believed consisted of people who might use violence against Jews, according to the indictment.

Giannakakis, after a trip home to the U.S. in January 2020, took back to Sweden his brother’s cellphone, laptop, sketches, writings and mail, prosecutors said.

The FBI also searched the younger brother’s Quincy home in March 2020 and found antisemitic writing, authorities said.

When Giannakakis returned to the U.S. in March 2020, be brought the items back and was questioned by investigators about any storage units the family might have. He told agents about one storage unit, but when asked about any other locations where his brother might have stored possessions, failed to tell them about a second unit, prosecutors said.

The second storage unit contained some of his brother’s possessions, including T-shirts with swastikas on the front, a notebook with his brother’s name on it and a swastika drawn inside, and a backpack containing a bottle of cyanide, which Giannakakis removed on March 22, 2020, before leaving for Sweden later that evening, prosecutors said.

He has not returned, prosecutors said.

He could face decades in prison if convicted of all charges.

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