Sources from New Democracy refer to new serious questions arising from today’s testimony by OPEKEPE employee Zoí Politopoúlou before the parliamentary inquiry committee — including allegations of grave responsibility on the part of Ms. Tycheropoúlou for the erroneous payment of 52 million euros.

They also speak of serious questions concerning the administration of Evangelos Simandrakos at OPEKEPE, prompted by the statements made by Ms. Politopoúlou.

The witness said that she had been called to testify on behalf of OPEKEPE in a lawsuit filed by a specific newspaper covering agricultural issues. However, as she stated, “Simandrakos called me and asked me to leave the courtroom and not testify.” Answering questions from MP Makarios Lazaridis, she further claimed that the defense witness for the newspaper’s publisher was Mr. Moschos Korasidis, also an OPEKEPE employee.

Ms. Politopoúlou noted that she remained and testified in court nevertheless, which resulted in Mr. Simandrakos transferring her to another department.

According to New Democracy, “this incident is not isolated, but adds to a series of actions by Korasidis that have already been officially recorded. It is recalled that Mr. Korasidis had also intervened in the earlier case of the €400,000 owed to G. and Ath. Miaouras, sending from his personal email the arguments of the farmers’ lawyer to the agency’s staff.”

The same majority sources add: “In any case, both Varra’s confirmation that disciplinary action was taken against Korasidis for that intervention, and the new testimony from Politopoúlou, now form a clear pattern: interventions, pressure, and actions that benefit individuals connected to the PASOK sphere, with Moschos Korasidis playing a central role and with cover from the then president of OPEKEPE.”

Allegations of heavy responsibility for Ms. Tycheropoulou regarding the erroneous payment

Furthermore, New Democracy maintains that from the testimony of OPEKEPE’s Director of Payments, Antonis Tasoulas, grave responsibility emerges for Ms. Paraskevi Tycheropoulou, as her actions led to an erroneous payment of 52 million euros.

“The responsibility for the mistake lies with the person who recognizes and clears the expenditure,” the witness said, clarifying that this refers exclusively to the official who checks and approves the legality of the payment — a position then held by Ms. Tycheropoulou.

Tasoulas also testified that as soon as he noticed the overrun in the ‘greening’ payment line, he immediately informed both the then president of the Organization, E. Simandrakos, and the head of the direct subsidies department — Ms. Tycheropoulou. He even noted — in response to a question by New Democracy rapporteur Makarios Lazaridis — that Mr. Simandrakos initially requested the procedure for recovering the unduly paid amounts to begin, but later, in a subsequent email, suspended the process because “it needed to be discussed again.”