AIRCRAFT SCANDAL WITH TENS OF MILLIONS OF CONTRACTS - MAIN SUSPECT'S EFFORT FELL ON DEAF EARS - Filenews 28/3 by Fanis Makridis
A breath before its registration is the case concerning the scandal of huge proportions with the aerial means of forest firefighting, based on the latest developments.
As it is known, after the findings of the TAE Police Headquarters, sensational practices came to light, since a number of public contracts amounting to tens of millions of euros ended up under strange conditions in companies, with which officials of the Department of Forests are indirectly connected.
Yesterday, therefore, there were developments regarding the whole case. More specifically, the attempt of one of the three aforementioned suspected public officials to issue a decree of annulment by the Supreme Court fell on deaf ears.
Attempt to cancel
Through his lawyers, the applicant attempted to cancel a court warrant obtained by the Police (19/3/2025) with the aim of having access (inspection and download) to recorded content of private communication from a mobile phone he owned.
Inevitably, from the argumentation of the applicant's lawyers for the annulment of the warrant in question, screen shots that had been stored on another suspect's portable storage drive (usb) and captured the content of private communication were found in the foreground.
The applicant considered that this communication of the other suspect had previously come into the possession of the Police and it was on the basis of this that they requested to secure the disputed court warrant. Consequently, as his lawyers argued, the Court of First Instance should not have approved the disputed warrant in March 2025, which - as we noted - concerned access to a mobile phone in the applicant's possession.
The representatives of the Attorney General in the case, Senior Lawyer of the Republic, Andreas Aristidis, and the Lawyer of the Republic A, Eria Papaloizou, in their objection countered that the applicant had no legitimate interest in invoking illegal access to the content of a communication of a third party.
Arguing, among other things, they noted that the screenshots are snapshots of part of a dialogue, in which the applicant did not participate. In addition, it was indicated on the part of the legal representatives of the Republic, that if the communication was exclusively of a private nature, it would be expected to remain within the application that was made (WhatsApp) and not to be recorded and stored in an external drive (usb).
The Supreme Court Judge Giasemis N. Giasemis, among other things in his verdict, refers to an excerpt of a text from the Court's decision to approve the warrant in question, noting: "Examining, especially, the above text, it is obvious that this does not concern a private communication of the applicant. It concerns a private communication of a third party without knowing the circumstances under which it came into the possession of the investigators." He concluded, as we mentioned, to reject the request by awarding costs of €3,000 in favour of the Republic.
Paving the way
The rejection of the request of the aforementioned suspect is considered an important development, in the sense that the police investigations show that his position is burdened and there is no longer a visible obstacle to registering the case.
As "F" had revealed on August 28 last year, he is the main suspect. He 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 pilots.
What had emerged from the investigators' examinations is 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 concluded.
The mother of the officer in question, as we had noted last June, allegedly participated in a company, which is linked to another business entity to which tenders were awarded. In fact, his mother has been interrogated as being controlled by the Police.
Indicatively, we mention that in recent years, three tenders for aircraft leasing worth several million euros were awarded to a company. The said officer of the Department of Forests participated in the evaluation committee. Further investigations by the Police revealed that the contractor who won the three tenders was cooperating with another company, in which the mother of the suspected official was an official.
A total of eight people were suspects in the case. Four natural and equal legal ones. The subject of examination by the investigators is more than 30 offers made for contracts with the public sector in the field of aerial firefighting. They concern the period between the years 2017 and 2024. The investigation began after complaints by the Minister of Agriculture, Maria Panagiotou.
