A high-profile trial opened at the Single-Member Court of Appeal for Criminal Cases in Athens involving seven defendants accused of illegally obtaining EU agricultural subsidies intended for young or newly-entering farmers.
The case concerns a type of fraud currently under investigation by the Greek team of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which is probing a not just seven instances, but an alleged system of misappropriation of EU funds through Greece’s Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aids (OPEKEPE).
The defendants from today’s trial are facing misdemeanor charges related to subsidy claims with OPEKEPE from 2019 and 2020. Some have reportedly returned the funds, which ranged between €25,000 and €90,000 per individual.
Key testimony came from Paraskevi Tycheropoulou, an OPEKEPE auditor who first investigated the claims following anonymous complaints. According to her account, the audit uncovered repeated anomalies: land plots were declared by different owners in successive years, some lands were added to tax declarations (E9) without prior record, and in at least one case, land was claimed by a person who had died in 2016.
“The problem was… there were land owners in various regions of Greece who put the land on their E9 one year and made the application themselves or their tenants, but in previous years these lands were either public or had a different owner,” Tycheropoulou testified.
She also highlighted internal challenges within OPEKEPE, claiming that attempts to recover illegally obtained subsidies were initiated in 2023 but later halted due to internal reshuffles. She alleged interference in the auditing process, citing instances where audit forms were altered or replaced with conflicting assessments from regional offices in Thessaly and Crete.
Tycheropoulou’s testimony detailed patterns in the fraudulent claims, such as the declaration of extensive grazing lands by individuals who did not own livestock, and suspiciously low rental agreements. “These pastures should not have been declared by people who did not have animals to receive rights from the national reserve,” she said.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office’s broader investigation includes the recent seizure of data from OPEKEPE offices in Athens and Crete. According to official statements, EU funds were improperly allocated for years to individuals who falsified their age, land ownership, or lease agreements. The fraud is estimated to exceed €4 million during the period under review.
