In a case that casts a shadow over the government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Athens Single-Member Court of Appeals has found seven individuals guilty of misdemeanor fraud related to illegal European subsidies distributed through Greece’s Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aid (OPEKEPE), on Tuesday, July 29.
The farming subsidy scandal, which has raised serious concerns about the mismanagement of EU funds, has sparked renewed political and public scrutiny over the handling of European resources in Greece.
During the proceedings, the court rejected the argument presented by some of the defendants that the criminal charges should be dropped due to the return of the embezzled funds.
The defense counsel for three of the accused submitted a case dismissal order from the Larissa Prosecutor’s Office, claiming it pertained to the same events and should therefore influence the current case. The lawyer argued that the earlier case was archived due to a lack of a formal complaint and that the dismissal had been approved by the Court of Appeals Prosecutor’s Office.
However, these claims were dismissed.
The prosecutor urged the court to reject the defense’s position, stating that the Larissa case had never been substantively judged. The court accepted her recommendation.
“From the contents of the dismissal order, it is clear that the offense in question was fraud against the Tax Office and OPEKEPE,” the prosecutor noted. “In the present case, however, we are dealing with false declarations aimed at obtaining EU funds. This is fraud against the European Union itself, not national institutions.”
