In a press conference held in Thessaloniki on Wednesday, Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis referred to the preliminary criminal investigation being conducted on OPEKEPE (Greek Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aid) by the Financial and Economic Crime Unit.
"A preliminary criminal procedure is underway, as you know, which was ordered by the supervising prosecutor," Chrisochoidis said, adding: "The Directorate for Combating Organised Crime - and specifically the Financial Crime Unit that comes under it - is processing the thousands of Tax Identification Numbers (AFM) and data it received from the agency, from OPEKEPE, and is beginning the analysis of all those cases that will lead to useful conclusions."
The Minister for Citizen Protection emphasised that the investigation is moving in two directions: first, to determine whether, under the provisions regarding organised crime, there were "criminal groups that collaborated with one another" in order to obtain illegal subsidies; and second, to examine how this was done, so that the amounts that were unlawfully disbursed or collected can be identified and returned to OPEKEPE.
"Immediately after the initial findings, the prosecutor has the authority -and will exercise it - to freeze the bank accounts and assets of those who unlawfully received these funds," the minister stated.