The operation, led by the Sub-Directorate for Combating Organized Crime of Northern Greece, comes at a politically sensitive time. According to the newspaper Efimerida ton Syntakton, the government is currently facing scrutiny over other scandals, with the timing of the police announcements seen by some as a convenient development. The raids were carried out in major cities and regions including Thessaloniki, Pella, Edessa, Ioannina, Attica, and Crete, highlighting the extensive reach of the alleged criminal enterprise which has been under investigation for its activities between 2018 and 2022.
Investigators are examining subsidy payments totaling €20 million, with at least €5 million confirmed to have been obtained illegally. The criminal ring’s method involved identifying undeclared agricultural land plots within the OPEKEPE system. They would then allegedly create fictitious lease agreements and submit false declarations in the names of third parties, often with their knowledge, to claim subsidies for land they did not own or cultivate. In one instance, a 36-year-old employee at a subsidy application center in Crete is believed to have collaborated with an accomplice in Giannitsa to systematically exploit these loopholes.
So far, 37 people have been taken into custody on charges of felony fraud against the financial interests of the EU and the Greek economy. Among those arrested are individuals who acted as both lessors and lessees in the fake contracts. Authorities have clarified that the individuals arrested in this operation are distinct from a separate, ongoing investigation into 1,036 other tax identification numbers (AFMs) that were found to have illegally received approximately €22.7 million in subsidies, indicating the widespread nature of the problem plaguing the agency.
The OPEKEPE Scandal in Greece
OPEKEPE, the Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aid, is the official body in Greece responsible for distributing billions of euros in EU and national agricultural subsidies to farmers. The "OPEKEPE Scandal" refers not to a single event but to a persistent series of cases involving corruption, mismanagement, and large-scale fraud. These schemes typically involve "ghost" fields, false declarations, and organized networks that exploit systemic weaknesses to illegally siphon funds intended to support genuine agricultural producers. The recurring scandals have damaged public trust, harmed the country's legitimate farmers, and led to increased scrutiny from European authorities, prompting calls for urgent reforms and stricter oversight of the subsidy distribution system.
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