An Athens judge is prosecuting representatives of four unnamed Greek companies and EU Commission employees, including Greeks, over alleged fraud involving EU funding programmes worth €25 billion, five years after an initial investigation was launched by Europe’s anti-fraud office-OLAF, local media reports said on Thursday.

The case filed by the chief prosecutor at the Athens Court of First Instance involves the EU-funded ‘Politeia’ and the ‘Information Society’ programmes and concerns subsidies they granted to Greek companies, whose representatives are being prosecuted for three acts of felony.

According to reports, the companies in question were granted EU funds for a large number of research programmes without fulfilling the necessary requirements – creating huge profits by setting up illicit shell companies whose expenditure costs were bloated or false.

EU Commission employees, including Greeks, are also under prosecution for approving the grants.

The case file was compiled – with the findings of the police financial squad and the country’s financial crime unit (Sdoe) – to, reportedly, examine ‘systematic fraud committed against EU funds by a group of companies”.

The initial investigation was launched in 2009 by the EU Commission’s Information Society and Media Directorate which is responsible for granting funds to promote the development and use of information technology and communications through research.