Former Def. Min. and Navy chief to face prosecutor for the $500 million contract voided after 9 years

The 59-year-old Panos Kammenos, who served as Minister of Defense from January 27, 2015 to January 14, 2019, had shown at the beginning of his term in the ministerial position in 2015, a strong interest in upgrading the aging P-3B Orion. And he had shown interest at a time when the country's economy was plagued by the suffocating pressures of memorandum obligations and the state coffers were empty. He was the man who had proposed and supported with passion and fervor the immediate upgrade of the P-3B aircraft.

The lawsuit

The prosecutor's investigation was initiated by the retired Navy officer Panagiotis Stamatis, who submitted to the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Georgia Adelini, a complaint about the nine-year-old contract of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications with Lockheed Martin for the modernization and upgrade of 5 aircraft P -3B of P.N. amounting to 499,843,145 dollars.

The lawsuit is directed against every participant and involved, with joint action and common intent, competent official and extra-institutional co-perpetrator or moral perpetrator and against every other person against whom there are nuanced indications of guilt for the criminal acts of a) infidelity, b ) bribery of officials and c) money laundering.

Mainly the βαρβσ of the lawsuit are "directed" at Mr. Kammenos and from the facts and according to those who participated in the crucial meeting of the government council on defense-KYSEA during which the interstate agreement Letter of Acceptance (LOA) for the modernization of the aircraft from Lockheed was received and finalized .

In this controversial KYSEA meeting, apart from Mr. Kammenos, the former president of SYRIZA Alexis Tsipras, the former vice-admiral, MP, and former Minister of National Defense in the second government of SYRIZA Evangelos Apostolakis participated as the most competent, since these planesbelonged to the Navy and he himself was Chief of the Navy.

Of course, the case file will make its way to Parliament due to the alleged involvement of Mr. Tsipras and Mr. Apostolakis, while as for non-elected persons, it will be separated and investigated by the Prosecutor's Office.

Today, the aircraft are decommissioned at the facilities of the Hellenic Aviation Industry (HAI) in Tanagra and at the airbase of Elefsina, without anyone knowing what fate they will have.