The file regarding the €500 million scandal will be sent to Parliament this week by the Supreme Court prosecutor’s office. The case involves the upgrade of five Navy P-3B Orion naval cooperation aircraft, which have been left unused for nine years at the facilities of Hellenic Aviation Industry (EAB) in Tanagra and the Elefsina air base. Key figures in this scandal include Panos Kammenos, leader of ANEL and former Minister of National Defense, and Evangelos Apostolakis, a former Vice Admiral, MP, and Defense Minister in SYRIZA’s second government.
It is important to note that the file was transmitted to Parliament specifically concerning Evangelos Apostolakis and former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Panos Kammenos and former Chief of the General Staff, General Michael Kostarakos, are omitted as they are no longer MPs and therefore do not require parliamentary immunity to be lifted. Their cases will be handled separately.
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The investigation into the $500 million contract, amounting to $499,843,145, was prompted by a complaint filed in late August by retired naval officer Panagiotis Stamatis. The complaint highlights the failure to implement the nine-year-old contract between the Ministry of National Defense to modernize and upgrade the five P-3B aircraft.
The lawsuit is directed “against every participant and involved, with common action and common malice, competent official and extra-institutional accomplice or instigator, and against every other person against whom there are strong indications of guilt for the felonious criminal acts of: a) dishonesty, b) bribery of officials and c) money laundering from criminal activities.”
Since assuming the ministerial throne, Kammenos, although the economic situation in the country at the time was under the suffocating pressures of the memorandum laws, had shown a strong zeal for the upgrade of the obsolete P-3B Orion. He even stressed in all tones within the Ministry of National Defence that the P-3B modernization program is necessary for the country’s national defense, but also economically beneficial compared to other solutions, such as the replacement of the five aircraft.
Apostolakis, with whom he had developed close friendly relations, had also sided with him, which he maintained after he departed from the ministry, a departure that was due to his disagreement with Alexis Tsipras over Skopje’s name and the Prespes Agreement.
Under pressure, on March 15, 2015, Kammenos led the members of the KISEA to approve the draft interstate Letter of Acceptance (LOA) agreement for the modernization of the 5 aging aircraft.
In fact, with fast-track procedures, that is, 20 days from the day of the controversial meeting of the KYSEA that approved the interstate agreement, the MoD rushed to activate the LOA by paying an advance of $45 million to the contractor.
Thus, the upgrade by 2020, has not materialized even though the last installment was paid on September 15, 2020. The controversial meeting of the KYSEA was attended by Alexis Tsipras, Panos Kammenos, Evangelos Apostolakis, and Michalis Kostarakos. Mr Stamatis’ complaint was forwarded to the head of the Financial Prosecutor’s Office, Appeals Prosecutor Panagiotis Kapsimalis, who in the next few days, due to the involvement of names of sitting MPs, will forward the case file to Ms Adilini without making any remarks. The latter, in turn, will forward the file to the Parliament through the Ministry of Justice.
Since April 2015, “THEMA” has revealed the $500 million scandal for the modernization of decommissioned P-3Bs in a series of publications. In this context, it had even published the letter of the vice president of Lockheed Martin and head of the office of the American weapons systems company in Athens, Denis Plessas, who has passed away. The contents of the letter made it clear that the modernization of the five P-3B aircraft at an estimated cost of $500 million is considered by Lockheed itself to be “not economically acceptable” and “not technically advantageous.”
When the case file has been forwarded to the Parliament, the Ethics Committee will recommend to the Plenary that the immunity of the MPs involved be lifted or not. Parliament will then have the final say on the lifting of immunity. During the proceedings of the Plenary, Members will decide by open roll-call vote. If the Parliament gives its permission, the MPs whose immunity is lifted will be immediately brought before the Judiciary, which will have the final say.
