EU Public Prosecutor summons 25 Greeks to testify on suspicion of mismanaging railroad contract funding

Over 25 people involved in the ErgOSE Contract 717 on signaling and telemanagement on the Greek railroad network have been summoned by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) to testify as suspects of fraud.

The office, which has prosecutorial authority over the misuse of EU funding, also sent a case file to Greek Parliament a few days ago asking it to decide whether former transport ministers Christos Spirtzis and Kostas Karamanlis (of Achilleas) have criminal liability.

According to information, the 25 summoned are related to the contract under investigation by EPPO and to its non-implementation for several years. Included in those summoned are members of the management authority at the Transport ministry. EPPO is investigating the criminal use of European Union funds and Greek state funding, since the signalling and telemanagement project was jointly funded by the EU and Greece.

The contract came under scrutiny after the deadly train collision at Tempi in central Greece in February 2023 that killed 57 people, many of whom were college students. EPPO’s investigation however actually began several months before the accident, after receiving charges about the mismanagement of EU funds.