The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) on Wednesday announced additional charges against a total of 16 individuals –13 of which are public officials – related to the execution of co-funded contracts for Greece’s rail network, especially the now infamous “Contract 717”, over the past decade.

The EPPO investigation comes amid an ongoing and extremely high-profile judicial investigation in Greece and simultaneous Parliamentary scrutiny into the actual February 2023 Tempi train collision, which claimed 57 lives.

The worst rail disaster in Greek history has caused significant political reactions in the country and criticism of the current Mitsotakis government, although the latter easily won a re-election in June 2023, only months after the tragedy.

The announcement was made by EPPO’s office in Athens, which cites contracts “restoring remote traffic control and signalling systems on the Greek rail network, co-funded by the EU.”

The development brings charges against another seven individuals, as nine suspects have already been indicted for other offenses related to the same European investigation.

EPPO is focusing on the failure to execute specific contracts co-funded by the Union and not on the causes and aftermath of the two-train collision on the ill-fated evening of Feb. 28, 2023, just south of the Tempi rail tunnel.

The specific contracts were signed between ERGOSE – a full subsidiary of state-run Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE) – and a two-company consortium.

According to EPPO, “…one of the companies undertook to carry out the northern section of the project, while the second company undertook to carry out the project on the major part of the Athens-Thessaloniki route up to Platy, including the section near Tempe (Tempi) where a fatal railway collision occurred on 28 February 2023.”

The full statement reads:

The new charges follow the conclusion of an extended investigation, aimed at examining the potential criminal liability of non-political individuals, specifically public officials of ERGOSE and members of the construction consortium, who are alleged to have participated in the misappropriation of funds to the detriment of the financial interests of the European Union (EU) and the Hellenic Republic. The facts date back to the period between 2019 and 2020, when members of the consortium requested compensation for damage, invoking costs of machinery outages – despite the fact that the works had not been completed due to the fault of the construction consortium. A payment of €2.7 million was formally granted by the then Greek Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, following a positive technical opinion by public officials of the contracting authority.

Upon completion of the preliminary investigation, criminal charges were formally brought against 16 individuals, public officials and members of the aforementioned consortium. They are charged with complicity in the misappropriation of funds to the detriment of the financial interests of the EU and the Hellenic Republic, as well as instigation to the misappropriation of funds, committed repeatedly.

The crimes of which the defendants are accused are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment, along with a fine.

The case has been forwarded to the Special Investigative Judge assigned to handle EPPO’s cases, for the continuation of the judicial proceedings.

All persons concerned are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in the competent Greek courts of law.”