Greece’s Farm Fund Scandal Deepens, Devolves to Finger-Pointing

The investigation into a farming subsidy finance scandal in Greece has devolved into drama and finger-pointing as the EU begins to probe what it alleges is a scheme of large-scale fraud against the bloc.

On May 19 the European Public Prosecutor’s Office conducted an unannounced raid into the offices of Greece’s Greek Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aids (OPEKEPE) both in Athens and on the island of Crete. The OPEKEPE allocates and manages agricultural subsidies to farmers across Greece. The European Prosecutor’s office alleges that the agency has been instead facilitating the broadscale misappropriation of such subsidies.

Specifically, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office alleges that for years the OPEKEPE allocated EU funds to individuals who misrepresented their age to receive benefits earmarked for young farmers, or misrepresented the ownership or lease of lands that were in fact usually public lands. These same individuals allegedly filed claims and received EU funds repeatedly. These misappropriations are estimated to equal over 4 million euros during the three-year period that is being audited, according to To Vima.

“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,” stated the EU prosecutor.

Aided by Greek police officers, the prosecutor’s office entered the offices in Athens and Crete around 10am on the 19th to collect files both paper and digital that would evidence falsified declarations of farming activities and land use.

In a terse press release after the raid, the EU Public Prosecutor’s Office noted that “gathering digital evidence at the headquarters of OPEKEPE proved particularly challenging and was significantly delayed until 4:00 this morning,” and the prosecutor stated that there was a “lack of sincere cooperation.”

And now in addition to the investigation into the alleged fraud, are a flurry of accusations, intimations, and denials of a cover-up.

In a press release response to the European Prosecutor’s Office statement, the OPEKEPE sharply stated that “at no time, from the announcement of the audit until its conclusion, did the Management of the Organization intervene, obstruct, guide or react to its conduct” and asserted the prosecutor either had to name those who did not cooperate, or retract the statement. 

Two days later the subsidy agency doubled down, calling the prosecutor’s statement “lies” that “shamelessly slander the Organization and indirectly but also clearly its new Administration, which according to [the EU prosecutor] tolerated or even encouraged the executives of the Organization to display such behavior.” They stated that if the statements were not retracted within 48 hours they would seek legal action.  

The following day, the Greek Minister of Rural Development and Food called for the president of the board of directors of OPEKEPE to resign, stating that this response was “incompatible with the spirit of cooperation”. The president refused, and a few hours later the Minister dismissed him from his position. 

OPEKEPE is already under EU monitoring for not meeting standards and is at risk of losing its accreditation to distribute EU funding. Additionally, there are several other cases of fraud that have already reached the Greek courts, with criminal charges levied against about 100 people for similar scams that amount to 2.9 million euros. There has been only one conviction so far.