(Luxembourg, 20 May 2025) – Since yesterday until early hours this morning, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Athens (Greece) has led searches as part of an ongoing investigation into an alleged organised fraud scheme involving agricultural funds and corruption involving public officials of the Greek Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aids (OPEKEPE).
Between 2019 and 2022, a significant number of individuals presented themselves as young or new farmers and obtained payment entitlements from the national reserve, funded by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), based on false declarations. These included misrepresentations about the ownership or lease of pasture lands eligible for subsidies, giving the false appearance of active farming activities.
In most cases, the pastures declared were in fact public lands, previously allocated only for use by livestock breeders who lacked private agricultural land. These pastures were often located far away from the actual place of residence of the individuals claiming to own or lease them.
In the following years, up to 2024, the same individuals continued to submit false declarations of livestock, enabling them to be allocated public grazing land, which was then used to activate and maintain their payment entitlements.
Such illegal practice may have been organised 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 (OPEKEPE).
Lack of sincere cooperation
The EPPO ordered four searches to be carried out in Athens and on the island of Crete. Gathering digital evidence at the headquarters of OPEKEPE proved particularly challenging and was significantly delayed until 4:00 this morning.
The successful execution of the searches was only possible thanks to the excellent support of the Digital Evidence Examination Department of the Forensic Sciences Division of the Hellenic Police (Διεύθυνση Εγκληματολογικών Ερευνών – Τμήμα Εξέτασης Ψηφιακών Πειστηρίων) and the Internal Affairs Service - Special Affairs Department (Υπηρεσία Εσωτερικών Υποθέσεων Σωμάτων Ασφαλείας- Τμήμα Ειδικών Υποθέσεων).
All persons concerned are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the competent Greek courts of law.
The EPPO is the independent public prosecution office of the European Union. It is responsible for investigating, prosecuting, and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU.