The final suspension of the criminal prosecution against the Psomiadis brothers for the employment of 81 employees with project lease contracts for the execution of projects in the Prefectural Self-Government of Thessaloniki, during the period 2007-2010, was decided by the Three-member Criminal Appeal Court of Thessaloniki.

Accepting the district attorney’s appeal to article 67 of Law 4735/2020 on “expenditure orders made on the basis of audits by the Financial Audit Services and the Court of Auditors”, the judges decided that the criminal charges for the acts attributed to Panagiotis should be removed and Dionysis Psomiadis, the first as Prefect and the second as his deputy (he was accused of official disloyalty and false attestation).

As jurists explained to APE – MPE, with this specific article the criminality of the actions of elected officials and employees of the Local Government Organizations A’ and B’ level related to payments of warrants that took place until July 31, 2019 and which were carried out on the basis audits of the Financial Audit Services (IAS) and the Court of Auditors.

Consequently, the criminal and disciplinary proceedings against these persons, as well as any imputation procedure against them, are definitively terminated.

The case had started after a complaint which was investigated by the Justice. The indictment accused the Psomiadis brothers of hiring people who were employed in other services and had nothing to do with the execution of the projects for which they were hired, causing damage to the Greek State, amounting to 1.3 million euros.

Their joint defense, apart from invoking the above law, asserted that no financial loss was caused to the State, nor did the defendants act with malice. He also emphasized that the specific employees worked normally, even in other positions, because there were needs in the then Prefectural Government of Thessaloniki due to understaffing of its services.

“The truth shone through”

In his statement immediately after the court’s verdict, the former Prefect of Thessaloniki Panagiotis Psomiadis, visibly moved, said, among other things: “Ten years of complaints and slanders fell into the void. I had declared that even slowly the truth would shine – and the truth did shine. I am happy because my work did not go to waste. Unfortunately, in recent years I have been destroyed financially, socially and politically.”

In his statements to APE – MPE, the lawyer of the Psomiadis brothers, George Nikolakopoulos, expressed the opinion that the above decision “paves the way” for the other case pending against them in the criminal courts and concerns the notorious “45s” of then Prefecture and employee project contracts. The trial is set to take place in May 2024.