ATHENS – Greek police on Wednesday arrested 13 people accused of fraudulently obtaining EU agricultural subsidies as part of a wider funding scandal that has shaken the country’s political establishment.

According to police sources, the Financial Crimes Unit dismantled an alleged criminal network that secured subsidies through false declarations submitted via agricultural aid application centres.

According to local media, 13 people have been arrested and at least 39 others are under investigation. Those detained include an employee of a Farm Subsidy Application Centre (KYD), which acts as an intermediary in applications for EU agricultural funding.

The criminal network, which operated in Agrinio in western Greece and in the northern city of Kozani, is alleged to have obtained more than €2.5 million through fraudulent subsidy claims.

This is the sixth criminal network to be dismantled since European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi revealed an EU farm subsidy fraud scheme estimated to have cost the EU budget more than €20 million. Other criminal networks were recently dismantled in northern Greece and on the island of Crete.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Athens launched an investigation in 2025 into alleged fraud involving EU agricultural subsidies, implicating farmers, politicians and OPEKEPE, the agency responsible for distributing the funds.

As the political climate heats up ahead of the 2027 general election, recent polls suggest that Greeks are primarily concerned about the rising cost of living (37.6%), although the OPEKEPE scandal also remains a significant issue, cited by 15.9% of respondents.

“We have several cases and, in some, farmers are involved. I do not know exactly what will happen,” Kövesi told Euractiv in March.

Twenty members of the ruling New Democracy party have been investigated in connection with the scandal. However, a former agriculture minister and a former deputy minister avoided further scrutiny after the ruling party’s parliamentary majority voted against lifting their immunity from prosecution.

(adm)