As part of Operation “Harvest,” a criminal organization operating in Western Macedonia was dismantled after being found to be systematically and professionally committing subsidy fraud against the financial interests of the European Union through the illegal collection of agricultural support payments.
The operation was carried out through coordinated action by the relevant authorities. According to the official announcement, a total of 14 members of the organization were arrested, including its ringleader and executive coordinator.
The case file that was drawn up also includes 23 additional individuals and 4 legal entities alleged to be involved in the illegal activities. Investigators are examining the role each played within the network.
The organization’s criminal activity spans at least from 2019 to 2025, during which it operated continuously and in an organized manner. Members are alleged to have unlawfully exploited agricultural subsidies through the Greek Payment Authority (OPEKEPE).
The total illegal financial gain obtained is estimated to exceed 2.46 million euros. In addition, the financial investigation uncovered evidence of tax violations amounting to approximately 2.7 million euros.
The case has now been handed over to judicial authorities, while investigations continue to fully expose the network and identify any additional persons involved.
Greek Police Official Statement
The Directorate for Combating Organized Crime, through Operation “Harvest,” dismantled a criminal organization whose members were engaged in the professional and continuous commission of subsidy fraud by submitting false declarations to obtain agricultural support payments from OPEKEPE.
To bring the illegal activity to an end, a coordinated police operation was conducted on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in areas of Kozani and Agrinio, resulting in the arrest of 14 Greek nationals, among them the ringleader and executive coordinator of the organization.
The case file covers charges including, on a case-by-case basis, criminal organization, professional and continuous subsidy fraud, violations of weapons legislation and the false declarations law, and money laundering.
It also includes 23 additional individuals and 4 legal entities. Two further members of the criminal group are deceased. Additionally, a relative of one of those arrested was apprehended on narcotics charges.
The operation followed months of thorough investigation by the Public Property and European Funds Protection Unit of the Financial Crimes Prosecution Sub-Directorate, carried out pursuant to a prosecutor’s order regarding criminal groups illegally collecting financial support from OPEKEPE through the use of false information.
The investigation revealed that the ringleader established and directed the criminal organization with the goal of obtaining illegal financial gain by submitting fraudulent Single Aid Applications (SAAs) to OPEKEPE, both on his own behalf and on behalf of related and associated individuals.
To achieve their objective, members of the criminal organization operated from a common geographic base, were bound by family and professional ties, used shared or connected Declaration Reception Centers (DRCs), and submitted applications with matching data, including submission dates, shared DRCs, and nominal lessors. They also participated in legal entities whose manager and legal representative was the coordinator, and maintained a reciprocal fictitious lessor relationship among themselves.
More specifically, the organization consisted of core and peripheral members who acted in concert. Between 2019 and 2024, they submitted aid applications in which they falsely claimed to be cultivating or operating plots of land as either owned or leased. At least one member continued the activity into 2025.
However, the overall investigation established that a large share of the declared land areas did not correspond to actual ownership status, as those plots belonged to public bodies, local government organizations, Greek state agencies, renewable energy management companies, private businesses, and other entities.
In parallel, members of the organization fictitiously appeared as lessors of agricultural parcels to third-party applicants, even though they had no legal claim to those plots. This created a false veneer of legitimacy for filing aid applications and collecting subsidies unlawfully.
The group also ensured that the fraudulently declared land areas were distributed across a large number of individuals and submitted through separate applications, both to maximize illegal profits and to obstruct the oversight work of the competent authorities.
A critical role in the organization’s operations was played by individuals connected to Declaration Reception Centers, through which the Single Aid Applications were entered and finalized. The organization used more than one linked DRC, rotating between them year by year in order to obscure the common origin of the applications and mislead administrative controls.
The investigation also established that two DRC employees played an active and coordinating role in the criminal scheme while simultaneously submitting their own fraudulent applications to the agency.
Furthermore, the involvement of four legal entities and cooperative structures facilitated the recruitment of new members, the identification of eligible claimants, and the concealment of the true scale of the criminal activity by creating a seemingly legitimate business environment around those involved.
Analysis of payment data gathered during the investigation showed that the total illegal financial benefit obtained by the criminal organization from OPEKEPE subsidies between 2019 and 2024 amounts to 2,466,179.59 euros.
Extended financial and banking investigations further revealed that in at least six cases, the illegally disbursed support payments were credited to bank accounts in which the ringleader appeared as a joint account holder. Analysis of financial flows showed that a portion of the subsidies was withdrawn directly by him or transferred to other accounts linked to him, confirming his central role in managing the criminal proceeds.
Additionally, evidence of tax law violations worth approximately 2.7 million euros emerged, and the relevant findings will be forwarded to the competent tax authorities for further assessment and investigation.
Among the items seized during searches of residences, vehicles, legal entities, and Declaration Reception Centers, carried out with the assistance of officers from the Kozani Police Directorate, were: 16,820 euros in cash, 5 gold sovereigns, a large number of related documents, numerous bank cards, mobile phones, an external portable storage device (USB), handwritten notes, stamps including one forged stamp bearing a nonexistent tax registration number, bank passbooks, and 2 hunting rifles.
During the searches, investigators also found 14 cannabis plants, cannabis with a total gross weight of 147.3 grams, a jar containing unprocessed cannabis with a net weight of 60.1 grams, and a metal grinder containing cannabis residue. A relative of one of those arrested was taken into custody in connection with these narcotics, and a separate case file was opened against that person for violations of drug legislation.
All those arrested will be brought before the competent prosecutor’s office.
