The European Public Prosecutor Office (EPPO) has uncovered the involvement of members of the Board of Directors and employees of the Greek Payment Authority of Common Agricultural Policy (C.A.P.) Aid Schemes (OPEKEPE), Greece’s payment and control agency for EU agricultural subsidies.
EPPO describes the mechanism as an organized fraud and corruption scheme targeting EU-funded agricultural aid. The revelation comes after a spot raid carried out in Athens and Crete as part of an ongoing investigation with the aid of the Digital Evidence Examination Department of the Forensic Sciences Division of the Greek police.
According to the official statement by the European Public Prosecutor Office, the raids, conducted from Monday, May 19 through the early hours of Tuesday, May 20, are linked to a continuing probe into an alleged organized fraud plan involving agricultural funds and corruption by public officials within OPEKEPE
“Such illegal practice may have been organized in a systematic manner with the involvement of members of the Board of Directors and officials of the Greek Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aids (OPEKEPE),” the statement on the official website notes.
In most cases, the claimed grazing lands were, in reality, public properties previously allocated only to livestock farmers lacking their own farmland. Often, these lands were located far from the actual residences of those claiming to own or lease them.
The agency points to possible internal complicity in sustaining the fraudulent scheme over several years.
Operations ordered in both Athens and Crete included four separate investigations, with authorities facing considerable difficulties in collecting digital evidence. According to EPPO, efforts to retrieve data from OPEKEPE’s headquarters were significantly delayed, extending until 4 a.m. on Tuesday, a situation that underscores what the agency described as a troubling lack of cooperation.
