In a lengthy post following yesterday’s arrests in Kozani and Agrinio, the former vice-president of OPEKEPE, Dimitra Halikia, claims that the case file that led to the latest developments was based on a complaint she filed about three months ago with the Economic Crime Directorate.
In her post, she makes specific reference to the case of the now famous “locked cupboard” of former internal audit supervisor Paraskevi Tycheropoulou. As she claims, after opening it in the presence of a bailiff, documents were found relating to hierarchical appeals of persons who were arrested yesterday, as well as their relatives.
The former vice-president argues that these decisions led to the cancellation of reimbursements of between 150,000 and 450,000 euros per case, followed by new payments to the same beneficiaries.
Mrs. Halikia also refers to the file submitted to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office by former President of the Agency and Honorary President of the Court of Appeal Nikos Salatas, noting that it contained, according to her, the same evidence and the same cases that are currently under investigation.
At the heart of her intervention is the question of why, while the Financial Crime Directorate proceeded with investigations and arrests a few months after receiving the data, there has been no similar development in the cases already brought to the attention of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office since 2025.
The former vice-president also links the case to the Declaration Reception Centres (KYD) of Agrinio and Kozani and the company Cognitera, which was a technical consultant to OPEKEPE. It argues that the relevant contracts and award procedures are the subject of a separate complaint that has already been forwarded to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, citing possible violations of the public procurement framework.
She says she has been informed that her second complaint, which concerns 2022 payments to beneficiaries in Agrinio and Kozani, has also been sent for investigation.
In closing her intervention, Dimitra Halikia argues that the crisis at OPEKEPE did not occur by chance and calls on the competent authorities to examine all aspects of the case as a whole. “If people really want to find those responsible, they should follow all the threads of the case and not just those that suit them,” she says, adding that the Greek Justice and the Financial Crime Directorate should be left to complete their work.
Source: tomanifesto.gr
