New evidence in the ongoing farm subsidies scandal reported forwarded by Greek Police (EL.AS) to the European Prosecutor’s Office several weeks ago reportedly includes references to another eight cadres of ruling New Democracy (ND) party, of which three are current or past ministers.
The scandal, known as the “OPEKEPE” case, the acronym of the disgraced and now disbanded state-run agency that doled out agriculture-related subsidies, has generated heightened attention in the east Mediterranean country. Tens of millions and up to hundreds of millions in fraudulently allocated subsidies are under scrutiny, often involving non-existent crops and stockbreeding herds.
According to an exclusive article in the Thursday edition of “Ta Nea” daily, the relevant information is contained in a previously unattributed case file containing the recorded phone conversations legally obtained by police in the first phase (2021-22) of the investigation. The material was mined from no less than 140 CDs of recorded audio files.
Initially the data from that first investigation five years ago had not led to further judicial action. However, after the dispatch last summer of a second case file to a Parliamentary committee of inquiry convened to examine at least two former agriculture ministers holding the portfolio over the past five years – Makis Voridis and Lefteris Avgenakis – a new in-depth investigation was requested again from police’s internal affairs department into the huge cache of evidence from the first probe.
The findings were sent to the European Prosecutor’s Office.
