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).
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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).
The EPPO ordered four searches to be carried out in Athens and on the island of Crete.
Two prosecutors, along with 20 police officers, arrived at OPEKEPE at 9:30 a.m. on May 19 but were obstructed from accessing the data requested, according to EPPO.
OPEKEPE employees said they were unable to provide the data owing to the absence of technical advisers.
After several hours, the prosecutors requested affidavits from employees confirming their inability to comply, which they refused to sign.
The prosecutors asked OPEKEPE’s President Nikos Salatas to sign an affidavit or face arrest for obstructing justice, EPPO said.
He ultimately cooperated, and the prosecutors finally left OPEKEPE at 4 a.m. the next day with everything they needed. ■