Parliament to vote on proposals for preliminary investigation into OPEKEPE scandal

The Parliament began a plenary session on Wednesday to debate proposals submitted by PASOK – Movement for Change and SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance, calling for the establishment of a Preliminary Investigation Committee. 

The committee would examine whether former ministers Makis Voridis and Lefteris Avgenakis should be held legally accountable for their alleged involvement in the OPEKEPE scandal.

The proposal submitted by PASOK-KINAL, signed by party leader Nikos Androulakis, 32 members of PASOK’s parliamentary group and two independent MPs, seeks to establish an investigative committee to probe potential misconduct. Specifically, it calls for an inquiry into whether the former Ministers of Rural Development and Food, Voridis and Avgenakis, committed the offence of complicity in breach of trust, repeatedly and in the course of their official duties, causing damages exceeding €120,000.

In addition, the proposal targets Avgenakis for moral instigation of breach of trust, both completed and attempted, citing “intense pressure for the release of suspicious VAT numbers and unlawful disbursements” by OPEKEPE, the Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aid.

A second proposal, co-signed by the leadership and parliamentary groups of SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance and the New Left, also calls for the formation of a committee. It requests an investigation into potential felony-level breach of trust against the financial interests of the European Union, allegedly committed jointly and repeatedly by both Voridis and Avgenakis. This includes moral instigation in connection with illegal subsidies disbursed by OPEKEPE, with damages again reportedly exceeding €120,000.

Both proposals are now under discussion in Parliament and will be put to a vote following the debate.