57 people have been convicted in Greece in relation to a €1.7 million subsidy fraud involving Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funds.

At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), a court in Athens convicted the individuals for fraud involving agricultural subsidies financed through the National Reserve, a mechanism under CAP.

The EPPO launched an appeal against the acquittal of one defendant.

The office is also currently assessing the possible criminal liability of several public officials.

Greece

The court found that, between 2019 and 2022, the defendants falsely declared that they qualified to receive payment entitlements from the National Reserve.

The National Reserve was established in 2015 to allocate payment entitlements primarily to young farmers and farmers starting their agricultural activity.

According to the EPPO, the defendants declared ownership or lease of agricultural land in the Kastoria region of northern Greece.

They had claimed that the land was being used as pasture in good agricultural condition, productive pasture or areas cultivated with wild olive trees, despite being based in Crete.

An investigation established that no agricultural activity was ever carried out on the declared land.

The plots were located 1,000km from the defendants' place of establishment, did not belong to them, and in most cases did not even belong to the persons presented as landowners.

The EPPO said evidence showed that the alleged owners declared the plots in their property declarations only after the subsidy applications had been submitted, while in most cases they subsequently removed them from those declarations.

Fraud

The court was told that the investigation also established that the declared agricultural activities were "questionable".

The EPPO noted that there are no private plots with pasture in good agricultural condition in the relevant areas of Kastoria, while wild olive trees cannot survive there because of the altitude and low temperatures.

The EPPO said that as a result of the fraudulent scheme, the defendants unduly obtained up to €1.73 million in EU agricultural subsidies from the National Reserve.

They also attempted unsuccessfully to obtain an additional €165,949, but the corresponding applications were rejected.

Among the alleged landowners who had purportedly leased the plots to the defendants, two were convicted for aiding and abetting the subsidy fraud.

The court sentenced all 57 convicted defendants to prison terms ranging from one to three years, suspended for three years.

In addition, 28 defendants were fined between €500 and €8,000.

The court rejected all requests for mitigating circumstances.

EPPO

During the proceedings, on-the-spot inspection reports concerning several of the declared pasture plots were presented as evidence.

The EPPO said it is currently assessing the possible criminal liability of three officials of OPEKEPE, the Hellenic Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aid, who allegedly carried out those inspections.

The EPPO added that this also concerns the possible liability of additional officials who authorised subsidy payments in 2020 from the National Reserve, before verifying the legitimacy of the declared ownership and agricultural activity.

The Greek court acquitted by majority one defendant who had repaid over €32,000 corresponding to the received subsidies.

The EPPO filed an appeal against the acquittal on Monday (July 6), taking the view that repayment does not eliminate the damage caused to the National Reserve, whose resources are irreversibly depleted once unlawfully allocated.

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.