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Greece: large-scale crackdown linked to a ‘systematic’ fraud of European agricultural aid

by AI | 22.Oct 2025 | Europe in brief AI

For years, millions of euros in European funds intended to support Greek farmers have been diverted through the agency responsible for disbursing aid, OPEKEPE, which is now dissolved.

A hiker climbs Mount Olympus (rising to 2,918 m), the legendary home of the gods in central Greece. (Photo: LOUISA GOULIAMAKI / AFP)

Thessaloniki (Greece) – Thirty-seven people were arrested on Wednesday in Greece on suspicion of being involved in a “massive and systematic” fraud of European Union agricultural subsidies, as well as “in money laundering activities,” according to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The subsidies under investigation concern, for example, pastures declared on archaeological sites, olive groves on the grounds of a military airport, or banana plantations on Mount Olympus.

These arrests took place “in several regions” and 43 other people are currently being sought, some of whom are abroad, according to Greek police spokesperson Konstantina Dimoglidou on the ERT channel.

Part of the fraudulent payments granted to individuals, who were not always farmers, was used to purchase “luxury goods, travel, and vehicles,” specified the European Public Prosecutor’s Office based in Luxembourg. (October 22, 2025)