The first serious fine was imposed on two employees of ERGOSE by the European Public Prosecutor's Office

Developments in the Tempe tragedy case. After the investigation by the European Public Prosecutor's Office – which imposed the first fine on two executives of ERGOSE – the rack of the judge of the European investigator was harsh.

According to his information iEidiseisTwo executives of ERGOSE were given cash guarantees of 500,000 and 600,000 euros respectively after they apologized to European inspector Cristina Salaba for the accident in Tempe.

The two defendants, the first of 23 to be called to apologize for not fulfilling contract 717 relating to critical works on the railway network, were acquitted under the deadline. They have to pay the cash bail imposed on them within 15 days or they will be sent to jail.

They were also banned from leaving the country.

Criminal proceedings have been brought by the European Public Prosecutor's Office against 23 defendants for a series of criminal acts in connection with the non-implementation of the 717 agreement that led to Tempe's heinous crime.

23 suspects in Tempe crash

In more detail, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) in Athens has opened criminal proceedings against 23 suspects – including 18 civil servants – for crimes related to the execution of contracts for the restructuring and upgrading of the signaling-remote control system. The Greek Railway Network, which is funded by the European Union.

The EPPO investigation, which began on November 28, 2022, focused on contracts for the restructuring of remote control and signaling systems in the Greek railway network – signed between ERGOSE, a subsidiary of the Hellenic Railway Organization (OSE). of contracts – and the contractor consortium, comprising two companies, is responsible for executing the project. The evidence gathered led to the criminal prosecution of 23 suspects, namely:

• 14 government employees ERGOSE, for fraud related to grants. Two of them were charged with making a false statement to obtain an unfair advantage for another;
• 4 civil servants of the Hellenic Executive Commission of the Operational Program for Transport Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainable Development (EYD/EP-YMEPERAA), for financial fraud;
• 5 Legal representatives and employees of the undertaking consortium are morally complicit in fraud related to grants and morally complicit in false certification with intent to give unfair advantage to another.

The charges relate to the execution of the contract for the overhaul of the signaling-remote control system of the Athens-Thessaloniki-Promachonas railway section, signed in 2014, with a deadline ending in 2016 – known as “Contract 717”.

In 2019, a subsidiary agreement was signed on the same project, revising the original physical substance of Agreement 717. A sub-contract was awarded to build a completely new signaling system with new telemetry units to enable communication and data exchange between railway stations. as well as from railway stations to control centres.

Both contracts were financed by the EU's Cohesion Fund within the framework of the project “Modernization of Signalling-Remote Control and Establishment of the European Train Control System (ETCS)” with the participation of the European Union. Up to 85%.

Wrongful execution of contracts

As reported by the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) in Athens, the evidence collected proves criminal liability for the following reasons:

By private agreement, the two companies that formed the consortium contractor arbitrarily divided the work between themselves immediately after signing Contract 717. One of the companies implemented the northern part of the project, while the second company implemented the project on the longest section of the Athens-Thessaloniki railway line up to Platis, including the area near Tempi, where the dangerous train was located. Collision occurred on February 28, 2023.

In addition, the second company violated the terms of the contract for the third company, which did not have the necessary specialized knowledge to prepare the technical studies related to the signaling systems of the Athens-Plati railway section. Provided that specialized knowledge should be provided by the lending institution. As a result, following an audit conducted by the Hellenic Financial Audit Committee (EDEL.) in 2018, a financial correction of around 2 million euros was imposed on ERGOSE in breach of the contractual obligation to provide specialized knowledge. )

Although the original scope of Contract 717 included the upgrade of existing signaling-telecommunications systems, the coalition contractor attempted to build an entirely new signaling system with new telemetry units. This action was considered an illegal modification of the original contract, which led to an unreasonable increase in its value, not justified by unforeseen circumstances.

According to the criminal investigation, a total of seven illegal extensions of the original contract were granted in accordance with the decisions of the ERGOSE board of directors. For this reason, more than nine years after the signing of Convention 717, the project has not yet been completed.

Employees of ERGOSE, responsible for the administration of the scheme, are alleged to have deliberately reported false and incomplete information to the administrative authority regarding the presence of facts important to the granting of assistance and the approval of extensions. As a result, the relevant claims were approved by the Executive Authority, which disbursed the funds to the beneficiary, ERGOSE, which was then paid to the consortium contractor.

Further, the employees of the administrative authority responsible for the management of the funds have been accused of acting in violation of the principles of proper management of these assets. Despite the fact that the data submitted by the employees of ERGOSE were clearly incorrect and incomplete, the civil servants of the Administrative Commission approved the granting of the relevant aid, thus causing damage to the financial interests of the European Union. and the Greek government over 15.6 million euros.

The offenses the defendants are charged with are punishable by up to 10 years in prison and fines.

The criminal investigation also revealed facts of possible breach of duty by inspectors-auditors from Greece's Hellenic National Transparency Authority (NAA), appointed by national prosecution authorities to carry out an audit of the implementation of Convention 717. The European Prosecutor's Office decided to refer this new case to the competent Greek authorities for their own legal proceedings, as the facts subject to this new investigation would not constitute a criminal offense within the competence of the EPPO.

The European Public Prosecutor's Office is the independent public prosecutor's office of the European Union. It is responsible for investigating, prosecuting and adjudicating crimes against the EU's financial interests.