One of the most serious corruption scandals in recent Greek history is unfolding around OPEKEPE, the state body responsible for managing EU-funded agricultural subsidies. The case, which has led to multiple resignations at ministerial level and triggered investigations by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), centres on allegations of widespread fraud involving fake farmland claims, inflated subsidies, and systematic abuse of EU rural development funds.
OPEKEPE- officially the Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aid- distributes European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funds across Greece. But according to the EPPO and Greek judicial authorities, thousands of these payments were unlawfully obtained between 2019 and 2022 through a network involving private individuals, civil servants, and politically protected insiders.
The fraudulent scheme allegedly relied on false declarations of pasture land, forged lease agreements, and entirely fictitious “new farmers” created on paper to extract funding. In many cases, there was no agricultural activity whatsoever, only paperwork designed to exploit gaps in the subsidy system.
According to investigators, officials within OPEKEPE failed to carry out proper checks, allowing millions in public money to be disbursed to ineligible recipients. The scandal has led to the resignation or removal of several high-ranking figures from the Mitsotakis government, including Ministers and Deputy Ministers Makis Voridis, Lefteris Avgenakis, Stavros Stamenitis, Christos Boukoros, and Tasos Hatzivasileiou, as well as the Secretary General for Agricultural Development.
The case has become a flashpoint for public anger over institutional failure and state capture, particularly in sectors that rely heavily on EU funding. In the wake of growing public pressure, the Greek Parliament is now examining how such a large-scale fraud could have operated in plain sight for years.
Amid the wider investigation, a landmark trial is currently under way, involving seven individuals accused of defrauding the EU through illegal subsidy claims. On Thursday, the prosecutor in the case, Kalliopi Dayanta, urged the court to find all seven defendants guilty.
The accused face charges of fraud against the European Union, a criminal offence under both Greek and EU law. All have returned the funds in question- but the prosecutor dismissed this as irrelevant.
“The defendants committed the acts attributed to them,” Dayanta said. “The return of funds does not eliminate the criminal offence.”
She rejected defence arguments based on legal error, good faith, or misunderstanding of the requirements, pointing out that the accused were all educated individuals who could not plausibly claim ignorance.
“The average person understands that you cannot receive aid for simply possessing land without conducting agricultural work. Real farmers are being deprived of their rightful support.”
The court heard that the scheme involved submitting private lease agreements for land that was not actively farmed. In one case, a defendant submitted a forged will to claim inheritance of thousands of hectares.
Crucially, the prosecutor clarified that the crime was not committed against OPEKEPE itself, but against the financial interests of the European Union, as the agency simply distributes EU agricultural funds.
“OPEKEPE is not the damaged party. The subsidies come from European rural development funds. The crime harmed the EU budget.”
The prosecutor also requested that evidence from the case be forwarded to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office for a broader investigation into potential felony-level fraud, and into the conduct of OPEKEPE officials who approved the fraudulent claims without due scrutiny.
“There is a widespread perception that anyone with access to pastureland can receive subsidies without farming,” Dayanta said. “We must also examine the potential for breach of trust by OPEKEPE officials who failed to implement proper safeguards, and the possibility of fraud by other citizens who exploited the same loopholes.”
The defence countered that not all defendants should be treated equally, and that the evidence presented does not justify extended detention or blanket accusations.
The court has reserved its decision, and further legal developments are expected as the scandal continues to reverberate through the political system.
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