More than four hours testified to the Inquiry Committee for the OPECEPE Former President of the Organization, Kyriakos Babasidis, making serious complaints about illegal subsidy payments.
According to him, critical documents revealing the mechanism of illegal payments were found hidden in a locked wardrobe, which – as he claimed – refused to be delivered by the then director Paraskevi Thanropoulou. As he said, the administration was forced to open it with a chainsaw, in the presence of responsible.
Illegal subsidies to non -existent beneficiaries
Mr Babasidis revealed that 13 “hierarchical” appeals were found in the cabinet, which had been accepted outside the legal process. Among them was the case of a 73 -year -old from Kozani, who allegedly received approximately 900,000 euros without even a acre of pasture.
Through the same mechanism, according to the former president of OPECEPE, a total of 13 beneficiaries were paid. Most were recently identified by ELAS inspections. and AADE, resulting in their property.
“It was not revenge, it was an application of the regulation”
Mr Babasidis stressed that Mrs Thanropoulou had two incompatible posts: Head of Payments and at the same time internal Audit Manager. “We had to get it out of one place. There was nothing revenge, we applied the regulation, “he said.
When a new payment director was appointed, Mrs Thanropoulou – according to the deposition – refused to hand over the cabinet with the documents. “We sent her extrajudicial, but she had no right to keep her locked. We opened it and forwarded the material to the prosecutor’s office, “the witness said, adding that he had informed the ministry, the Supreme Court prosecutor and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Key witness to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office
Paraskevi Thanropoulou has been seconded as a scientific associate at the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, where he is considered a key witness to form OPEKEPE.
The case is expected to continue to concern the Inquiry Committee and the Judicial Authorities, as the former president’s complaints illuminate dark aspects of management of European and national agricultural subsidies.