The case file of a fast-track investigation into fraudulent subsidy payments received by a former candidate for ruling New Democracy (ND) party have been forwarded to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), while Greek authorities this week ordered a freeze on the possible sale of roughly 30 vehicles – including a Ferrari and a late-model Porsche – and 11 properties held by the woman and her husband.
Popi Semertzidou, her husband and other family members have come under investigation for receiving at least one million euros in farm and stockbreeding subsidies through fraudulent means, all doled out by a now disbanded state agency, known as OPEKEPE, that operated under the agriculture ministry.
The acronym OPEKEPE stood for the wordy Greek Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aids.
The investigation in Greece was conducted by the independent watchdog against money laundering. The report’s findings will be conveyed to the European prosecutor.
According to reports out of Athens, the watchdog agency ordered a freeze on the assets of four individuals to a value of 1.5 million euros.
The total figure in terms of ag-related subsidies – from EU resources and national coffers – received by the four individuals between 2019 and 2024 is 2.6 million euros.
