Seven defendants have been convicted in the OPEKEPE subsidy fraud case for defrauding EU funds through illegal agricultural subsidies in the Grammos region of Northern Greece. The scheme involved false applications to OPEKEPE’s 2019-2020 programmes for young and new farmers.
The Athens Single-Member Misdemeanour Court sentenced the defendants to prison terms ranging from nine to fifteen months, all suspended for three years pending appeal.
The court rejected the defence argument that some defendants’ charges should be dropped because they repaid the funds. Prosecutor Kalliopi Dayianta told the court the repayments did not show genuine remorse, as they were made only after official notices were served- in one case after all legal remedies were exhausted. “They returned the funds to avoid enforcement procedures,” she noted, adding that voluntary repayment before the audit could have supported a claim of sincere repentance. The court agreed and denied the mitigating factor.
Five defendants were granted the mitigating factor of a lawful prior life.
The court also ordered the trial records to be sent to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to investigate potential criminal liability of OPEKEPE officials who approved the contested applications containing false information. The investigation will look into possible breach of trust and forgery, particularly a will presented by some defendants that named them heirs to thousands of hectares of farmland in the area.
The sums illegally obtained ranged from €25,000 to €90,000 per case.
During the trial, the defence presented an earlier archive order from the Larisa Prosecutor’s Office for what they claimed was the same case. The court dismissed this, accepting the prosecution’s argument that there had been no substantive judicial ruling in Larisa and the circumstances were not identical.
This case follows another earlier this month, in which 13 defendants were convicted in a separate OPEKEPE subsidy fraud case involving false subsidies in Fthiotida. That court imposed sentences from six to forty months, all suspended pending appeal.
Both cases followed investigations by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which continues to examine additional OPEKEPE files. More cases are expected to reach court in the coming months.
Also read: OPEKEPE subsidy scandal shakes Greece
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