Acquittals for 22 defendants in OPEKEPE scandal — over €1 million in illegal subsidies
The Athens District Court of First Instance (Second Division) acquitted three of the 22 defendants in the OPEKEPE criminal organisation case. A total of over €1 million in subsidies was illegally obtained.
Acquittals and mitigating circumstances in the OPEKEPE criminal organisation trial
The Athens District Court of First Instance (Second Division) issued a decision in the case of the criminal organisation that operated within OPEKEPE, with 22 defendants facing charges of illegal receipt of EU subsidies. According to eksegersi.gr, three defendants were acquitted, whilst the remaining 19 were recognised by majority vote as having the mitigating circumstance of previously unblemished character (Article 842a).
The acquittal of Vamvouka and the amounts obtained
Eksegersi.gr characterises the decision acquitting Georgios Vamvouka, son of Thomas, as particularly striking. During the four-year period 2017–2020, he illegally obtained €113,767, whilst according to data collected by eksegersi.gr, for the same period and 2025 the amount reaches €118,517. If additional subsidies granted to two co-defendants are added following verification of genuine signatures on an illegal lease contract, the total amount exceeds €120,000.
The publication notes that if Prosecutor D. Mouzakis had taken into account subsidies illegally obtained up to and including 2025 by Vamvouka and the remaining 21 defendants, the total amount would have greatly exceeded €120,000 — a sum that would have required referral to the Court of First Instance for Felonies rather than the District Court of First Instance.
His wife was also acquitted
The acquittal of Georgios Vamvouka's wife, Georgia Charokopu, daughter of Marcos, is similarly characterised as striking. During the four-year period 2017–2020 she illegally obtained €32,056, whilst she continued to receive subsidies in 2024 and 2025, reaching a total of €33,367 for the two most recent financial years. According to the publication, if amounts from the period 2021–2023 are also included, it is not ruled out that the total could exceed €120,000, a sum that would have resulted in referral to a higher court.
Seven defendants with the surname Vamvouka
Eksegersi.gr identified from official announcements the amounts obtained in 2024 and 2025 by six of the seven defendants bearing the surname Vamvouka: Georgios Vamvouka, son of Thomas; Maria Vamvouka, daughter of Georgios; Konstantinos Vamvouka, son of Georgios; Georgios Vamvouka, son of Michalis; Spyridon Vamvouka, son of Emmanouil; and Kyriaki Vamvouka, daughter of Konstantinos, as well as the wife of Georgios Vamvouka, son of Thomas. Data for Emmanouil Vamvouka, son of Spyridon, and the remaining 13 defendants could not be obtained due to non-responsiveness of the AADE system.
Total illegal subsidies: over €1 million
Based on the 58-page indictment obtained by eksegersi.gr, 16 of the 22 defendants illegally obtained a total of €891,811 up to 2020. If the €156,145 obtained by seven of them during 2024 and 2025 is added, the total amounts to €1,047,956. None of the 16 had returned the illegally received subsidies as of 31 January 2025, the date the indictment was sent.
Prosecutor D. Mouzakis had recommended conviction of all 22 defendants without recognition of mitigating circumstances, noting that no one had repaid the amounts. The court, however, aside from the three acquittals, decided by majority vote to recognise the mitigating circumstance of previously unblemished character for 19 defendants, whilst unanimously rejecting the Article 842b mitigating circumstance for one of them.
The role of the Financial Police and the incomplete indictment
According to the publication, Prosecutor Mouzakis relied on information provided by the Financial Police — an agency which, together with the administration and staff of OPEKEPE, is accused of concealing and continuing to conceal the scandal. Exceptions are Gr. Varas, V. Simandrakos, Paraskevi Tycheropoulou, Panagiotis Theodorpoulos, and Grigoris Kaliouris — the latter was the OPEKEPE employee who first exposed the scandal and who, according to the publication, was persecuted by officials of the organisation.
The indictment is characterised as incomplete, with the result that the true scope of illegal receipts was not reflected — a fact which, according to eksegersi.gr, affected both the acquittals and the selection of the competent court.
Composition of the court
The case was tried by the Athens District Court of First Instance (Second Division) presided over by Christina Avgeri, daughter of Athanasios, President of the Court of First Instance from 30 August 2022. Members of the composition were Athena Gymnopoulou, daughter of Stylianos, a judge since 2024 who was transferred from the Xanthi Court of First Instance to Athens on 22 August 2024, and Despina-Barbara Aliferaki, daughter of Georgios, who completed her studies at the National School of Judicial Officers in May 2025 and was promoted to Judge in August 2026.
The case was first entered for trial on 24 March 2025, underwent adjournments, and began substantive trial on 6 March 2026 with the above composition, which completed the trial on 1 September 2026.
Source: Google News GR — Crime (el)