The latest suspected scandal involving state subsidies and benefits in Greece involves a social cohesion and family affairs-affiliated agency that allegedly doled out “destitution pensions” earmarked for senior (67 and over) but uninsured citizens.
The agency, known as the Organization of Welfare Benefits and Social Solidarity, or OPEKA, its Greek-language acronym, replaced a previous agriculture ministry agency (OGA) in 2018, and bears an uncanny resemblance – in name, firstly – to the disgraced and now disbanded OPEKEPE agency, which is alleged to have paid out hundreds of millions of euros in national and EU funds in fraudulently claimed farm-sector subsidies.
In this case, 1.8 to two million euros are under scrutiny by the National Transparency Authority, an independent anti-corruption watchdog agency, as being mismanaged between 2020 and 2022. What the latter charges is that during sample checks of approved pensions, many lacked the proper documentation and others violated guidelines, such as age ceilings.
The OPEKA case also touched on a “political angle”, besides affecting the ND government in terms of proper oversight of state spending, given that one of two high-ranking employees at the agency is a PASOK party cadre who up-until this week had been legally transferred from the state institution to the party itself.
The woman, A.Ch., on Wednesday issued an announcement stating that she was suspending her membership in the party ending her secondment. The other employee retired in 2024.
The latter development comes in the wake of a major judicial probe into the alleged embezzlement of EU funds managed by the country’s largest umbrella trade organization, GSEE, for financing vocational and retraining programs. Long-time GSEE president Yannis Panagopoulos, another high-profile main opposition PASOK cadre, is under criminal investigation in the case, bringing more negative light to the socialist/social democrat party.
The news “broke” that on Tuesday cites an audit at OPEKA that revealed cases in which welfare benefits were granted to individuals not entitled to receive them. The independent authority said it auditors examined 372 benefit applications, uncovering numerous violations of the institutional framework for allocating the specific pension benefits.
The specific type of benefit, the “destitution pension” was the only type that had not been digitized up until then.
However, during the audit the watchdog said it located cases in which:
- The legally prescribed application submission procedure was not followed, nor were applications handled in chronological order.
- Applications were approved despite missing supporting documents or failure to meet eligibility criteria (e.g., age limits).
- Benefits were granted earlier than they should have been and therefore for longer periods than beneficiaries were entitled to.
The total amount that was wrongly paid out reaches approximately 1.85 million euros.
The two former department heads under investigation, one now retired and the other subsequently “loaned out” to PASOK, allegedly entered and attempted to improperly receive and approve applications.
The National Transparency Authority recommended that OPEKA’s current administration initiate disciplinary proceedings against the two and seek recovery of the unduly paid amounts. It also submitted specific proposals to strengthen oversight of compliance with eligibility conditions for benefit approval.
