European prosecutor files charges against 100 Greeks in agricultural subsidy fraud

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office in Athens announced on Wednesday it has filed indictments against 100 people suspected of fraud involving agricultural funds, for an overall damage of 2.9 million euros to the European Union’s budget.

At issue are three indictments filed in the past months, following investigations into schemes to defraud the EU of subsidies for the use of pastureland. If found guilty, the suspects face up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine. 

Between 2017 and 2020, stockbreeders, mainly from Crete, successfully applied to EU agricultural funds destined to help the sector, paid by OPEKEPE, the Greek body responsible for the management of the funds from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).

According to the investigation, the suspects submitted false declarations of ownership or falsified lease contracts of plots of land which in reality they did not own or had not leased. The majority of the suspects lived in different parts of the country from what they had declared in their applications. 

Sixty-four individuals, 56 suspected perpetrators and eight charged as accomplices, were indicted on 18 February this year, in a case scheduled to be heard before court on 16 May. Another 22 individuals, 16 suspected perpetrators and six accomplices, were indicted in January 2025, and will face trial on 24 March 2025. Finally, 14 other suspects, eight charged as perpetrators and six as accomplices, were charged last year. Their trial is scheduled for 30 May.

The investigations were carried out with the support of Greece’s Financial Crimes Prosecution Department of the Directorate for Combating Organised Crime of the Hellenic Police.

Kathimerini