At a press conference held at the Port of Piraeus Customs Office [1], [2], [3], European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi referred to the three major cases currently open in Greece.
She spoke about the Tempi train crash, OPEKEPE, and the “Calypso” case — the largest seizure of shipping containers with undeclared goods ever carried out in the EU.
“The ‘Calypso’ investigation is the largest of its kind to date. We have seized thousands of shipping containers. Together with the Greek authorities, we are investigating the systematic illegal trade of goods in Europe. The damage exceeds €800 million,” she said, stressing that “VAT fraud and customs fraud have become the strongest forms of fraud in the EU,” with individuals and mafia groups even plotting murders over it.
She made clear that corruption is not only a Greek issue but a global phenomenon, and emphasized that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is here to stay.
Referring to the Tempi tragedy and the OPEKEPE scandal, she identified Article 86 of the Greek Constitution (on ministerial liability) as a common obstacle in the European Public Prosecutor’s investigations into both cases, stating that “it must be changed,” as it also contradicts European law.
As for OPEKEPE, she noted that it has become “an acronym for corruption, nepotism, and clientelism,” describing the investigation so far as at best superficial, and the attempts to report its evidence as at best limited.
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