Sharp criticism regarding the testimony given before the parliamentary committee investigating OPEKEPE by former organization president Dimitris Melas comes from PASOK, while condemning the fact that the majority refused to submit to the committee the official memo referenced by Georgios Mylonakis. The main opposition party demanded the immediate summoning of the deputy minister to the prime minister to provide relevant explanations, however this request fell on deaf ears.
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“In today’s committee session, PASOK submitted a request to the Committee Chairman to immediately produce the Official Information Memo that Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister G. Mylonakis admitted receiving regarding the OPEKEPE scandal, requesting his immediate summons to provide explanations for his role in the case. The rejection of this request by the government majority proves that yesterday’s letter, based on which he ‘obviously and unreservedly’ makes himself available to the Committee, is merely a facade,” PASOK sources characteristically state.
“At the same time, the press release from the Union of Greek Regions (ENPE) categorically clarifies that the Regions have no involvement in the direct aid granting process, demolishing the Government’s claims that Regions played a decisive role in subsidy allocation. The process is the exclusive responsibility of OPEKEPE, either through certified paying agencies or through the electronic platform, as the announcement characteristically emphasizes. Reference to the Veterinary Database is misleading, as it concerns a health tool of the Ministry of Agriculture, completely unrelated to subsidies,” the same sources note.
“Serious questions about OPEKEPE’s operation”
Subsequently, PASOK sources refer to Melas’s testimony, saying that “first, the witness’s contradiction must be explained – how, while he did not adopt the reserve allocation to grazing lands without animals, the government apparatus ultimately proceeded with allocation beyond any limit, a fact that contributed catalytically to the OPEKEPE scandal. His testimony raises serious questions about OPEKEPE’s operation and his own way of acting. The dialogues that came to light from PASOK’s questions reveal a network of selective and preferential services and non-transparent relationships, while complaints and investigations for payments were pending.”
“The former OPEKEPE President failed to explain the conversations he had with a relative and other interlocutors from whom he appears to have received gifts for the favors he offered. Specifically, when questioned by PASOK rapporteur Milena Apostolaki about the gift he accepted for the service he provided to a ‘good friend,’ he claimed it was not a gift related to his duties, but because he mediated in finding real estate. The gift, according to him, was cheap (!), a Swatch watch from Italy!” the same sources emphasize.
“The witness, in an ‘original’ defensive line, claimed that what matters is not what he said on the phone but whether the actions occurred. He omitted to mention that this is being investigated by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. It’s characteristic that although he received complaints about tax numbers in November 2021, he ordered investigations in June 2022, shortly before leaving, allowing a seven-month period of inaction during which potential fraud could have been covered up,” PASOK sources stress.
“Mr. Melas may have completed his testimony today at the Parliamentary Committee without answering questions about the 2019-2020 period when national reserve allocation exceeded all precedents, but he will soon be summoned before Justice for the crimes he is accused of, specifically document theft, continuous breach of duty, and continuous joint harboring of criminals,” conclude the sources from Charilaou Trikoupi street.
