Police investigation finds false farm subsidy claims filed in 2025 amid OPEKEPE scandal
A police investigation has found that several alleged members of a criminal organization dismantled by Greek authorities over the weekend submitted agricultural subsidy applications containing false information to Greece’s state payment agency, OPEKEPE, for the year 2025—even after a major corruption scandal had already come to light.
According to judicial documents, a 42-year-old accountant described by police as the group’s second-in-command declared ownership of eight agricultural plots in a subsidy application filed in 2025. A subsequent police review found that he neither owned the land nor held lease agreements for the plots, the documents showed.
His wife, a lawyer whom police consider part of the organization’s leadership, also submitted subsidy applications to OPEKEPE for 2025. She declared 11 agricultural plots, some as owned and others as leased. Police checks failed to confirm her ownership of the land or the existence of any lease contracts.
Authorities have identified the alleged ringleader as a 47-year-old agricultural unionist who serves as president of a farming cooperative in Archanes, in the Iraklio region of Crete, and as manager of a single-shareholder company involved in the grape trade.
Police said that between 2019 and 2024, the alleged leader submitted subsidy applications to OPEKEPE falsely claiming ownership or leasehold rights over farmland for cultivation and fallow use. Authorities estimate that he received approximately €64,000 in payments during that period.
Investigators estimate the group’s total illegal proceeds at around €1.7 million. According to the findings, a significant share of the funds paid by OPEKEPE to members of the network was transferred to bank accounts belonging to companies either established or controlled by the alleged ringleader.
Police said that part of the funds was distributed to beneficiaries only after senior members of the organization withheld a percentage as a fee.
The OPEKEPE scandal has caused delays in European Union–backed subsidy payments, sparking nationwide protests by farmers who have blocked major roads and border crossings across Greece. Over the weekend, protesters rejected an invitation to hold talks with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at government headquarters, while insisting on the immediate payment of outstanding subsidies and presenting a series of additional demands.
