An appeals court has convicted 13 of 25 defendants in a case involving the alleged illegal receipt of European Union agricultural subsidies in northern Greece, court officials said.
The Three-Member Athens Court of Appeals for Felonies ruled on payments linked to Greece’s former agricultural subsidy agency OPEKEPE in the Serres region, with the disputed funds estimated at about €250,000.
The court followed the recommendation of European Delegated Prosecutor Evgenia Kyvelou, finding the defendants guilty of offenses including fraud, complicity in fraud, false certification and instigation of false certification, depending on the case.
According to case files, the subsidies were obtained through false declarations and supporting documents, highlighting what prosecutors described as serious weaknesses and insufficient oversight in the payment system.
Investigators cited the use of blank or unverified documents submitted as supporting paperwork, along with outdated audit procedures that excluded lease agreements and lacked cross-checking mechanisms from at least 2015 onward, allowing improper payments to go undetected.
