A team of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is conducting a large-scale investigation in Greece into alleged organized fraud scheme involving agricultural funds and illegal EU subsidies worth millions of euros. The investigation involves also corruption of public officials of the Greek Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aids (OPEKEPE).
According to a statement issued the the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), the investigation concerns illegal subsidies with virtual pastures and false livestock declarations by people who were not qualified as beneficiaries.
“Between 2019 and 2022, a significant number of individuals presented themselves as young or new farmers and obtained payment entitlements from the national reserve, funded by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), based on false declarations. These included misrepresentations about the ownership or lease of pasture lands eligible for subsidies, giving the false appearance of active farming activities.
In most cases, the pastures declared were in fact public lands, previously allocated only for use by livestock breeders who lacked private agricultural land. These pastures were often located far away from the actual place of residence of the individuals claiming to own or lease them.
In the following years, up to 2024, the same individuals continued to submit false declarations of livestock, enabling them to be allocated public grazing land, which was then used to activate and maintain their payment entitlements.”
“Such illegal practice may have been organized in a systematic manner with the involvement of members of the Board of Directors and officials of the OPEKEPE,” the EPPO noted in its statement.
Meanwhile, the nationwide investigation has been taken over by prosecutor Poppy Papandreou, who is part of the Greek section of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. Already Papandreou has ordered and carried out surprise checks and seizures at the offices of the Greek Payment Authority of Common Agricultural Policy (OPEKEPE) in Athens and Crete. The checks were assigned by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to the Hellenic Police, and the investigation mainly concerns the period 2020 – 2022.
During the police raids, authorities seized documents, computer hard drives, and data.
To date, criminal charges have been filed against around one hundred individuals in connection with these illegal subsidies and funds. It is worth noting that more than 80% of the illegal subsidies concern Crete.
According to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), the perpetrators submitted false declarations of ownership or forged lease contracts for land that they did not actually own or lease. The majority of the suspects lived in different parts of the country than they had declared in their applications.
Audits were also reportedly carried out both at the OPEKEPE headquarters in Athens, as well as in Crete and other cities.
Last March, prosecutions were brought against a total of 100 suspects for fraud against the EU following the investigation by the EPPO.
Investigations on the illegal funds are continuing.
Quelle surprise! Fraudulent collection of EU moneys in Greece: who would have thunk it? If the EPPO is short of things to investigate, I would suggest all recipients of EU funding in Greece. I doubt that anything here is legal.
such misuse of EU subsidies is all over the EU, I remember a scandal with Dutch “farmers.” It’s GR’s turn now.
The agricultural subsidies, however large they may be, are peanuts in comparison with the €750B Covid Recovery Fund of which Greece – I believe – received over €30B. Even though each country had to submit specific plans in order to qualify for the funds, there was recently a comment from the EU that they know very little as to where the money went. I hope the Greek authorities know where the money went…
money invested in huge masks & sms during lockdown lol