Dozens of people have been arrested since early Monday morning on the island of Crete during a big police operation linked to the OPEKEPE scandal of illegal EU agricultural funds subsidies.
According to information by Monday afternoon, so far 20 people have been taken to local police stations while the operation of the Crete Organized Crime Units continues.
Raided have been businesses and homes of suspects in Heraklion, Rethymno and Lassithi. Among those arrested are two accountants, three managers of Certified Agricultural Service Centers and reportedly also an active deputy mayor.
The suspects are considered to be members of a criminal organization and are accused of involvement in fraud at the expense of the financial interests of the European Union, as well as of submitting false declarations for the receipt of subsidies.
The organization has been active between 2019 and 2025 and had illegally received EU funds of 3 million euros.
According to local media, the fraud was set up in close cooperation between the accountant offices and the Certification Centers. Undeclared agricultural plots would be located and identified by the center owners, then private producers would enter the “game”, who, with false declarations, managed to obtain subsidies from the national EU funds distribution agency OPEKEPE.
The… sharing of the gain would follow, with the organizers of the fraud scheme taking half of the money collected by the producers.
According to preliminary findings, the illegal financial gain exceeds 3,000,000 euros.
Announcements by the Greek Police are expected when the operation is concluded.
In another operation on Crete last week, several members of a family were arrested for blackmailing and terrifying plot owners to transfer them for the sake of subsidies.
When the OPEKEPE scandal broke out in May 2025 following intensive investigation by the European Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) it was quickly clear that Crete was topping the list of the fraud as it appeared to have registered over 8 millions of live animals, much more than could have fit for a living on the island.
*thumbnail: archive photo
