A new round of political confrontation—and growing unease, particularly within the government—is expected to be triggered by a fresh case file being compiled over illegal subsidies linked to OPEKEPE, Greece’s agency responsible for distributing EU agricultural funds. According to reports by Ta Nea, the file is said to include the name of a former top-ranking minister, along with five to six members of parliament, most of whom belong to the ruling New Democracy party.
A New Dimension to the Scandal
This new case file adds a significant dimension to the ongoing scandal, focusing on controversial recorded conversations dating from early 2022 to October of the same year. These exchanges—between MPs, their associates, and OPEKEPE officials—have already been transcribed by the Internal Affairs Service of the Hellenic Police and are now being processed by the Financial Police, often referred to as Greece’s “FBI.” The findings are expected to be forwarded to Parliament in the coming weeks via the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which is overseeing the broader investigation.
Sources familiar with this third case file told Ta Nea that while it may be smaller in scope than the one recently submitted to Parliament—containing fewer individuals, roughly half the number—it highlights the involvement of politicians in key positions, a factor likely to cause a stronger reaction among the public.
The File on 13 MPs
It is worth noting that the previous file sent to Parliament by the European Public Prosecutor concerned suspicious conversations involving 13 New Democracy MPs and senior OPEKEPE officials. These discussions allegedly revolved around preferential treatment and unlawful subsidies granted to constituents through the agency, which has long faced accusations of mismanagement.
That earlier file was based on an initial investigation—conducted without European prosecutorial involvement—by the Internal Affairs division of the Hellenic Police between July 26, 2021, and October 24, 2022. Triggered by complaints about favoritism and lack of transparency within OPEKEPE, the probe relied primarily on wiretaps of 16 suspected officials, without examining supporting documents such as financial records or transactions.
Significantly, the original police report—just 33 pages long—included only suspicious conversations involving three New Democracy MPs (Christos Boukoros, Maximos Senetakis and Theofilos Leontaridis), without even noting their parliamentary status. Thousands of additional recorded conversations from that period, stored across 140 CDs, were neither catalogued nor analyzed at the time.
The Second Phase of the Reinvestigation
The situation changed when the scandal reached European authorities in Luxembourg, as concerns grew over the impact of illegal subsidies on EU funds. In autumn 2025, European Public Prosecutor Popi Papandreou, based in Athens, ordered a comprehensive re-examination of the recorded material from 2021–2022. At the same time, she instructed Greece’s Financial Police—already in possession of OPEKEPE’s electronic files—to expand the investigation into the agency’s overall operations.
By the end of 2025, the Internal Affairs unit had completed its analysis of the recordings, uncovering judicially relevant conversations or interventions involving a total of 20 MPs. Of these, 13 to 14 were linked to discussions from 2021, while the remaining six to seven emerged from 2022 recordings.
What Comes Next
The newly compiled case file—which included the former senior minister—essentially represents the second phase of this re-examination of the 140 CDs. Due to the risk of legal time limits expiring after five years, investigators prioritized analyzing material from July to December 2021, which led to the recent parliamentary debate over lifting MPs’ immunity. The subsequent review of conversations from early 2022 through October of that year has now formed the basis of this latest, potentially explosive case file.
