Following a request by the Mayor in which suspicions of fictitious procurement were expressed, an audit was carried out by the NTA in a Municipality of Central Macedonia, regarding the procurement of electromechanical equipment for the municipal units with a total value of €100,000, which were carried out in 2019 a few days before the expiry of the term of the previous municipal authority.
During the audit, it was found that four direct awards for the supply of electromechanical equipment were carried out, constituting an artificial supply segmentation, resulting in the avoidance of tendering procedures. The examination of the evidence in the case revealed strong indications of pre-coordination between the former Mayor and the supplier and/or the suppliers participating in the procedure or the suppliers among themselves, a time discrepancy in the award procedures and shortcomings in the preparation of the necessary procurement documents.
Due to serious damage to the equipment, a short time after its installation, an expert examination was requested during which the equipment was removed from the installation and during the autopsy it was found that there was a quantitative and qualitative discrepancy for some of the materials supplied. As a result, it was impossible to reconcile the installed mechanical equipment with its procurement documents, as the relevant manufacturing data were missing both on the equipment’s body, on the purchase invoices and the Municipality's acceptance documents.
The expert appointed by the Technical Chamber of Greece and the municipality’s technical consultant determined a different age of the equipment due to the particularities of its operating conditions, with the latter (municipality’s technical consultant) expressing the opinion that the equipment’s corrosion occurred due to the passage of 10 years.
Following the above conclusions, the NTA requested from the Secretary of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace the disciplinary control of the former Mayor and from the serving Mayor the disciplinary control of a municipality employee and the conduct of a relevant Administrative Oath Examination. In addition, the Finding was associated with a case file formed in the case by the competent Public Prosecutor.