Greek Police Say Millions of Euros Taken in EU Farming Funds Fraud
Source: Balkan Insight
The Greek Minister of Citizens Protection, Michalis Chrysochoidis, on Monday presented the first results of a police investigation into organised fraud with EU agricultural funds involving officials of the Greek Payment Authority for the Common Agricultural Policy Aid Schemes, known as OPEKEPE.
Greek police investigated 6,354 tax identification numbers, of which 1,036 were identified as having illegally received EU agricultural subsidies amounting to 22.7 million euros over the period 2019 to 2024.
“It cannot and must not be tolerated that some people are embezzling valuable public resources, whether national or European. These resources are intended to support Greek agricultural production, not the illegal and unjustified enrichment of some,” Chrysochoidis said.
The prosecution has already ordered an investigation and frozen the assets of the suspects. Chrysochoidis said it will be decided whether criminal prosecution should be initiated in Greece for the establishment of a criminal organisation, fraud related to subsidies, forgery or other offences. The case is also being investigated by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, EPPO.
Various Greek individuals allegedly submitted false declarations to OPEKEPE of land ownership, or falsified leases of land, which they did not own or had not leased, costing the EU budget several million euros.
EPPO in June said it had forwarded information to the Greek parliament on the alleged involvement of two unnamed former rural development ministers who Greek media later identified as Makis Voridis and Lefteris Avgenakis. Both have denied wrongdoing.
Under the scam, fake “livestock farmers” cropped up across the country, particularly on the island of Crete. Some declared themselves owners of land on Mykonos, an island not known for agricultural production.
The Greek investigative media outlet Inside Story revealed that some so-called farmers without any animals had received subsidies by declaring land that actually lies in neighbouring North Macedonia.
A parliamentary investigative committee will be summoned on September 15 to examine the role of OPEKEPE in the alleged subsidies scam.
The original article: belongs to Balkan Insight .
