ATHENS, May 26 (BV)— Greece’s organized crime police have arrested 39 suspects in Crete and northern Greece over alleged involvement in a large-scale fraud scheme linked to European Union agricultural subsidies.
The investigation, centered on the now-defunct state agency OPEKEPE, concerns allegations that suspects fraudulently claimed ownership or use of farmland and grazing areas in order to obtain EU subsidy payments for non-existent farming activities.
Authorities said a total of 116 people are named in the broader investigation and are expected to be called to testify before the Athens office of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
According to investigators, suspects in Crete allegedly received around €2.7 million in fraudulent subsidies between 2019 and 2024, while another €4.5 million was allegedly obtained through similar schemes in Macedonia.
Police carried out arrests in Thessaloniki, Serres, Kilkis, Rethymno, Iraklio, Lasithi and the Athens region.
Among those detained are two brothers from Rethymno who are suspected of leading the alleged criminal network in Crete. One of them was arrested at Athens International Airport upon returning from a business trip.
Investigators believe the suspects exploited weaknesses in the subsidy declaration system by registering land whose real owners or tenants had not submitted claims on the EU subsidy platform.
The suspects then allegedly used the undeclared land to obtain payments tied to fictional agricultural activity.
The case has dominated political debate in Greece for months and has become a source of pressure on the conservative government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, particularly over oversight failures linked to the distribution of European agricultural funds.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has intensified investigations into alleged misuse of EU funds across several member states, with Greece increasingly under scrutiny over agricultural subsidy management.
The OPEKEPE scandal is one of the largest alleged subsidy fraud cases uncovered in Greece in recent years.