Filenews 28 August 2025 by Fanis Makridis
A first-degree relative of one of the three suspected officers of the Forestry Department for the case with the flight rental kickbacks, was called by the Police to give an investigative testimony, according to reliable information from "F".
The same source of information told us that it is the mother of one of the suspected officers, who is expected to cross the threshold of the Police Headquarters within today in order to testify as controlled.
This in itself means that the testimony will be long hours, since when a person is being investigated for specific criminal offenses, he is called upon to answer a large number of questions from the investigators.
Of course, the final word for her prosecution or not lies with the Attorney General's office. More specifically, the Assistant Attorney General, Savvas Angelidis, who is also responsible for criminal matters, will be asked to form a position after the internal evaluation process of the case file at the Legal Service.
However, the fact that the mother of one of the suspects is being investigated for the procurement case is not surprising to those who follow the events around the whole issue.
As "F" had revealed on June 21 last year, the findings of the police investigators in relation to the contracts of the Forestry Department with companies for the provision of services and the lease of forest firefighting aircraft, presented the position of one of the three officers who are suspects.
At the same time, his mother appeared to be related to a company that cooperated with a business entity, which scandalously allegedly won contracts.
It is recalled that on the basis of the revelations of our newspaper, the specific suspect for the case participated in the competent body of the Department of Forests, which evaluated and gave a final recommendation for the award of tenders to specific companies either for the rental of aircraft or for the purchase of services from aircraft operators.
The interconnection
What had emerged from the investigators' examinations was that some contracts worth tens of millions ended up in the same companies. In fact, in two cases, the same officer was interconnected with the legal entities to which public contracts were awarded.
The mother of the officer in question, as we had noted last June, allegedly participated in a company that is affiliated with another business entity to which tenders were awarded.
More specifically, in recent years, three tenders for the lease of aircraft worth several million euros have been awarded to one company. This officer of the Department of Forests participated in the evaluation committee.
Further investigations by the Police found that with the contractor who won the three tenders, another company cooperated, in which the mother of the suspected officer was an official.
Six competitions
These do not seem to be the only findings of the Police for the suspect in question. As it was established, a large number of contracts for the purchase of services were awarded to the same company.
Following the police examinations, data emerged showing that between the years 2018 and 2024, six tenders held for the purchase of pilot services were awarded to a specific corporate entity.
In these tenders, based on data obtained by the investigators, the same officer of the Department of Forests had a role.
From the investigative work, it appears that the latter had a connection with the company in question. Specifically, the public servant allegedly used a vehicle belonging to the specific corporate entity for his movements.
Request for an annulment decree
In the meantime, the main suspect in the case has filed an application to the Supreme Court for a privileged Certiorari warrant in order to annul a decree obtained by the prosecution authorities for access to his telecommunications data. The permission was granted and the request was registered, while the two sides (a representative of the Legal Service and the lawyer of the suspect) at the beginning of July spoke before the Court, which reserved its decision.
Eight persons are being audited for 30 competitions since 2017
A total of eight people are suspects in the case. Four of course and an equal number of legal ones. As far as the four natural persons are concerned, the police investigations that are being carried out focus on the three officers of the Department of Forests and a company director.
The Headquarters Crime Detection Department investigates against the aforementioned offenses (1) defamation of a public official, (2) extortion of remuneration from a public official, (3) bribery for showing favour from a public official, (4) abuse of power, (5) corruption and others. Some of the offences in case of conviction of a person carry a prison sentence of up to seven years. In other words, these are felonies.
The investigators of the TAE Headquarters have already proceeded with requests for assistance in order to open bank accounts of all persons, who had a direct or indirect relationship with contracts of the Department of Forests (from 2017 onwards) and companies for the lease of helicopters and aircraft that are able to perform forest firefighting operations.
The subject of the investigators' examination is more than 30 offers made for contracts with the state in the field of aerial firefighting.
The amounts put under the microscope are tens of millions of euros. Suffice it to note that a relatively recent contract for the purchase of services from two aerial firefighting helicopters over a period of three years, exceeded €14.5 million. We clarify, of course, that this contract has nothing to do with the Police investigations, which concern the previous 7-8 years.
We remind you that in the context of the investigative work of the prosecuting authorities, a number of search warrants have been executed. As part of them, documents and devices, such as computers undergoing forensic and other examinations, were received as evidence.
The background
The tangle of the case unfolded after an administrative investigation that had been conducted on the basis of instructions from the Minister of Agriculture, Maria Panagiotou. As a political head of the Department of Forests, he had received a complaint from an interested company and had initiated a procedure for it to be investigated.
After the completion of the investigation of the Ministry of Agriculture (see announcement on 22/1/25), findings had emerged, which were forwarded to the Legal Service and from there to the Police. The police examinations had revealed the possible criminal responsibilities for three officers, who were suspended.
- On July 23, the three suspected officers of the Department of Forestry returned to the public service, performing duties in other departments to ensure that the investigative work would not be affected. The maximum period of six months that a public official can be placed on leave had expired.
