OPEKEPE scandal: “Farmland added and removed from E9 Declarations – 3,000 ‘Alleged Landowners’ under investigation”
A comparison of data from Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) and OPEKEPE, the Greek Payment Authority for Common Agricultural Policy Aid Schemes, has uncovered large-scale irregularities in agricultural subsidy claims between 2020 and 2024.
Authorities found that a number of individuals who received farming subsidies during this period collectively added and later deleted farmland from their E9 property declarations in 2025. Investigators say the practice points to the receipt of disproportionately high and unjustified agricultural subsidies that do not align with actual production capacity.
In total, around 3,000 landowners and tenants have been placed under audit. In the first phase, 50 cases were referred to national and European prosecutors due to unjustified deletions in E9 declarations. For these individuals, OPEKEPE has suspended subsidy payments and initiated procedures to recover funds already disbursed.
According to sample cases, hundreds of plots in Crete and other regions were declared and subsequently removed, while tenants used these lands to claim subsidies amounting to hundreds of thousands of euros. The 50 individuals referred to prosecutors are estimated to have received more than €1 million in total subsidies.
Authorities announced that digital audit tools will be expanded and controls intensified to combat agricultural subsidy fraud and tax evasion.
