A decision by Greece’s tax authority AADE not to consider a job application by a whistleblower in a massive agricultural aid scandal was based on a provision that aimed at excluding her, her lawyer said Tuesday.
Paraskevi Tycheropoulou applied for the position of head of department at AADE’s Directorate-General for Controls, Aid and Payments, but the tax authority responded that her application was ineligible.
Tycheropoulou is the main witness in a major probe by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office into the illegal distribution of EU farm aid to thousands of ineligible recipients from OPEKEPE, the agency responsible for handing out the aid. After the scandal was exposed, she was demoted from her senior auditing position to a position in protocol – a decision deemed as illegal and vindictive by a court that ordered her reinstatement.
“The decision is based on tailored provisions that came into force on January 2026 with the obvious purpose of excluding her, in view of her acquittal by the Single-Member Court of First Instance of Athens, which actually deemed her dismissal [from OPEKEPE] illegal and vindictive and ordered her reinstatement to the position of Director,” Antonis Vayianos said in a statement, adding that his client has challenged the decision.
Vayianos said the provision in question led to “selective exclusions” as it only bans employees with her qualifications from the central Directorate-General for Controls, Aid and Payments, while allowing them to...
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