Former agriculture minister Makis Voridis told Parliament’s investigative committee he never intervened in subsidy cases, rejecting claims of pressure, favoritism, while accusing the opposition of a political witch hunt as the OPEKEPE inquiry deepens
Former minister Lefteris Avgenakis denied wrongdoing before Parliament’s OPEKEPE inquiry, as the government seeks to restore credibility in Greece’s farm subsidy agency and regain EU trust
From Athens to Beijing to Canberra, the same truth endures: ethical leadership is the cornerstone of public trust. Scandals may differ in scale or style, but they expose a shared moral crisis—the distance between transparency and virtue, between law and conscience
The Economic Police and forensic experts seized electronic files from OPEKEPE’s IT department as part of an ongoing probe into suspicious agricultural subsidy applications for 2025
The European Commission has sent a warning letter to Greece, demanding a new framework for farm subsidy payments by November 4 or risk suspension of €600 million in EU agricultural funds.
Ioannis Kaimakamis has stepped down from his role as vice president of Greece’s OPEKEPE agency. The resignation, effective from October 16, was accepted by the Minister of Rural Development and formally published today in the government transparency portal Diavgeia
The alleged leader of a criminal network accused of defrauding Greece’s agricultural payment agency has been jailed, bringing the total number of pre-trial detentions to ten. The case involves 37 defendants accused of illegally claiming EU farm subsidies
The number of suspects held in pre-trial detention has risen to eight as judicial questioning continues in Greece’s OPEKEPE subsidy fraud case involving an alleged network accused of defrauding millions in EU farm subsidies through Greece’s OPEKEPE agency
Eleven defendants in a Greek agricultural subsidy investigation were released with restrictions after denying wrongdoing. Authorities continue hearings, with remaining accused scheduled to testify over the weekend
After overnight questioning in Thessaloniki, 34 of the 37 suspects in the major OPEKEPE subsidy fraud case were transferred to Athens under tight police escort.
Police in Greece have detained 37 suspects in a major OPEKEPE fraud probe, alleging a network used false claims to obtain millions in EU farm subsidies
At the OPEKEPE trial in Athens former president Dimitris Melas and ex-director Athanasia Reppa stand accused over farm subsidy audit irregularities
Ex-president Grigoris Varras has accused political and corporate figures of pressuring him to resign, while new testimonies and delays in hearings show the inquiry is still unfolding
Ex-OPEKEPE president Grigoris Varras told a parliamentary inquiry his dismissal was ordered under pressure from a private contractor and executed by then minister Makis Voridis.
The inquest on Tempe has finished and we can expect a trial date to be set for the coming months. The Agricultural Subsidies Agency (OPEKEPE) is in court, and the first convictions are coming through
A landmark trial in Crete has opened with 105 defendants accused of using fake leases and forged documents to claim EU farm subsidies worth thousands of euros from the scandal hit OPEKEPE between 2019 and 2023
The judicial freeze is accompanied by referral to the European prosecutor's office of a high-profile case file on results of an investigation into more than one million euros of fraudulently doled out between 2019-24
A preliminary investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is underway into €2.5 million in subsidies allegedly received by Greek politician Kalliopi Semertzidou and her family, with anti-money laundering authorities also involved in the probe
Two certification agencies face €56,000 in penalties for approving non-compliant organic products as Greece tackles a wider farming scandal.
The European Commission has already ordered Greece to forfeit nearly €400 million in funding for 2026 — over 20 percent of the direct payments it was due to receive. In response, the government pledged to shut down OPEKEPE by the end of 2026