The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and the European Anti Fraud Office (OLAF), have spent recent days examining a lengthy report submitted by officials within a central Greek government agency. The document alleges a mechanism for diverting public funds through subcontractors and outside “technical consultants” hired on public contracts, generating illicit political money.

The complaint originated from within Greek public bodies that carry significant auditing authority, and it names government officials and close associates who allegedly took part in yearslong arrangements involving information and communication technology contracts cofinanced with European Union funds. It focuses in particular on a portion of roughly 300 public contracts worth about 2 billion euros, most of them financed through Greece’s postpandemic Recovery Fund.

The document, filed a few weeks ago, includes detailed information along with data and attached files that EU bodies are already investigating.

A Pattern of Prior Inquiries

The new report follows four notable cases in which complaints or briefing documents about alleged rigging in Greek technology tenders drew scrutiny from OLAF, EPPO and Greece’s Hellenic Competition Commission.

The first unfolded in November 2023, when a Greek software company filed a complaint with EU authorities over IT project tenders financed mainly through the Recovery Fund. That complaint alleged the technical specifications of several tenders were drafted in ways that favored particular firms, that genuine competition was limited, and that large contracts repeatedly went to the same bidders. It is not known what became of that investigation.

In March 2024, the Hellenic Competition Commission raided three major telecommunications providers and seven information technology and consulting firms. Investigators were looking into possible bid rigging among competitors, the exchange of sensitive information, and the coordination or allocation of tenders.

In November 2025, OLAF raided Information Society SA, a public company that implements digital projects, along with the General Secretariat of Information Systems, drawing on data from the earlier 2023 complaint concerning how specific technology contracts were awarded and carried out.

Separately, an investigation published by Politico in 2024 examined 110 public tenders, most financed through the Recovery Fund, and found that 101 of them had been awarded to a group of just 10 companies, with the majority of those tenders drawing only a single bid.

How the Alleged Scheme Works

The new report provides fresh detail on individuals and specific situations, and explains how subcontracting drives the alleged mechanism.

The information provided to EPPO and OLAF, (perhaps by Greek state employees seeking to end what they perceive ongoing impunity), holds that illicit political financing is not generated at the stage of the main contract award itself. That stage, the report notes, is subject to oversight by the relevant EU managing authority, Greece’s Court of Audit, and standard financial controls. Instead, it happens one level down, through subcontracts or through arrangements involving what is known in Greek public procurement as “borrowed technical capacity,” a mechanism normally used to let a bidder meet a tender’s qualification requirements by relying on another firm’s expertise.

The report describes how this mechanism is allegedly misused. The main contractor awards subcontracts to companies that fall into one of two categories: firms incorporated only 12 to 24 months before the subcontract was signed, or firms whose technical staff is too small for the work the contract requires.

In several of these companies, the report alleges, the managers, shareholders or legal representatives are individuals close to the political circle of the officials who made the original award decision. The subcontracts themselves typically range from 1 million to 5 million euros, amounts the report says are large enough to leave a visible banking trail but small enough to fall below the threshold that would automatically trigger scrutiny from SDOE, Greece’s financial crimes unit, or AADE, the tax authority.

A Trail in the Tax Records

Despite the alleged scheme, and this is what investigators are now examining, invoices from these arrangements remain on file in the electronic registries of Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue, known as AADE, including its myDATA digital invoicing platform along with VAT and income and expense records. Those records are retrievable and could allow investigators to trace the subcontracting activity of the companies named in the complaint, along with affiliated firms.

According to the state officials who filed the written submissions with OLAF and EPPO, bank officials have indicated, reportedly in conversations with the complainants, that newly formed subcontracting companies presented their contracts to banks as collateral for loans, either through factoring or working capital financing.

In many instances, the report says, initial loan applications were rejected by bank departments, which cited the companies’ limited or nonexistent operating history and insufficient technical staffing for the projects in question. Even so, the pattern is said to allow investigators to identify financing secured against digital project contracts, as well as the internal recommendations made by bank committees when evaluating those applications, potentially exposing the scheme.

The Political Money Allegation

Regarding the alleged illicit political financing, the documents now in the hands of European investigative bodies describe a twofold objective behind the subcontract and loan arrangement.

The main contractor reports higher costs, which reduces its apparent profitability and, in turn, its income tax liability, a practice the report calls “accounting absorption.” Through this process, the report contends, money exits the primary contract clean on paper while being converted to cash through the banking system. In effect, the newly formed subcontractor liquidates its contract through a bank loan while partially or entirely failing to deliver the actual work.

Funds are then allegedly directed to individuals through management fees, representation expenses, inflated sub subcontracts, or direct withdrawals.

“This is a classic case of laundering proceeds of criminal activity, rooted in primary fraud against the financial interests of the European Union,” the report states.

The complaint also names government officials, their associates and heads of state agencies it alleges took part in this cycle of arrangements.

It states that a central role is played by two individuals directly connected to circles around Maximos Mansion, the seat of the Greek prime minister’s office. Their names are said to appear in the document. According to the report, these two individuals place what it calls “executive staff” in key state agencies, and three additional names are reportedly recorded in connection with those appointments. None of the five names have been made public.

The report also describes a role for political aides, who it says controlled and selected proposals, managed the flow of decisions, communicated with suppliers and directed technical choices. It further describes a role for consulting firms, which it says drafted technical specifications that validated those choices, and for domestic intermediaries, who it says helped absorb the diverted funds through subcontracting arrangements.

The complaint includes detailed information on a series of individual contracts, the people involved, gaps in the procedures, the alleged coordination among them, and the roles played by officials in key positions.