An Athens court on Friday convicted 57 defendants from Crete over fraudulent European Union farm subsidy claims and is expected to announce sentencing next week.
The court also acquitted one defendant who returned the €30,000 she had received in subsidies, with interest.
All 58 Cretans were accused of fraudulently claiming to own or to be renting pasture land and fields for the cultivation of olive and almond trees in the northwestern region of Kastoria on the mainland, at the other end of Greece.
The case was brought by the Greek branch of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which is investigating a series of scandals involving allegedly fraudulent subsidy claims through the now-defunct state OPEKEPE agency for disbursing EU farm subsidies.
The trial will resume on Wednesday, when the court is due to announce sentencing, as well as ruling on a request from the EPPO for a new investigation targeting three former OPEKEPE officials.
