EPPO, General Prosecutor's Office EUrevealed dozens of cases of fraud in Greece and the largest agricultural fraud scheme in recent years in recent years.
The Politico publication, referring to sources, says that since 2017, Greek citizens received European subsidies for the cultivation of land that really did not belong to them. Subsidies were also issued for agricultural work, which were not carried out. The total amount of damage, presumably, could be € 45 million per year.
Theft began after the expansion of the lands that fell under the program of the general agricultural policy of the European Union (CAP). According to the Politico source, the scheme “could not act” without the participation of representatives of the Greek organization for payments and control over management and guarantees of public assistance (Opekepe), who would tell fraudsters “which land plots are available throughout the country” and follow the fact that So that there is no “double reservation” of the site.
EU prosecutors consider about 70 cases of misuse of budget funds. Most of the unlawful applications for subsidies came from Crete. According to the documents, the islanders claimed that they own land in different parts of Greece. In 34 cases, applicants received funds to land outside Greece and in one case in a country that is not even included in the EU – in North Macedonia.
Politico gives several examples. For example, in 2019, two residents of Retimino in Crete submitted applications for land lease for use as a pasture on the island of Kei, which is located at a distance of 500 km from Crete. Fraudsters received 73,000 euros from the EU Foundation for these purposes. A year later, two more residents of Retimno took the same land for rent. The court in Greece sentenced scammers to prison terms from year to two years.
In March last year, the European Commission fined Greece for 283 million euros for improper management of European subsidies in relation to payments for the period from 2020 to 2022. The European Commission gave Opekepe 12 months to correct the situation. In September 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture of Greece took control. An unnamed official from the Ministry of Agriculture suggested that soon “more cases would be filed in the courts.”
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