European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi has vowed to press ahead with a major investigation into alleged fraud involving the EU’s substantial agricultural budget in Greece. The EU Prosecutor slams Greek intimidation in farm fraud probe despite what she describes as “attacks” and “intimidation” directed at her staff.
In dramatic scenes last week, officials from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) encountered physical resistance from employees of the Greek state agency OPEKEPE—the Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aid. OPEKEPE is the public body responsible for managing and distributing EU agricultural subsidies in Greece and is now at the centre of the investigation.
Following the confrontation, the Greek government dismissed OPEKEPE’s president for failing to cooperate with the inquiry.
EPPO is currently handling dozens of cases in which Greek citizens allegedly received EU funds for pastureland they neither owned nor leased, or for agricultural work that was never carried out—misallocations that deprived genuine farmers of vital support. The alleged multi-year, multimillion-euro fraud was the subject of a POLITICO investigation earlier this year.
“I welcome the Greek authorities’ response to recent developments at OPEKEPE, aimed at preserving effective cooperation with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office,” Kövesi told POLITICO.
“I would like to reassure the public that EPPO will continue its work diligently and impartially to uncover the truth, regardless of the attacks and attempts at intimidation against our prosecutors,” she added. “The apparent goal of these actions is to distract the public from the real issue at hand: was there organised agricultural subsidy fraud and corruption—yes or no?”
Systemic collusion and whistleblowers ignored
Evidence suggests that the alleged fraud was not limited to isolated cases but may have involved systemic collusion. According to sources, the government, the respective Ministers of Rural Development, and OPEKEPE’s presidents and senior executives were all aware of—and complicit in—the corruption within the agency, which distributes vast sums of EU funds to farmers and livestock breeders.
Two agricultural cooperative leaders, Dimitris Moschos from Kastoria and Dimitris Kapounis from Naxos, had already raised alarms over widespread abuse of the system. Their testimonies have highlighted how so-called “blue day labourers”—many of them from Crete—secured large sums in subsidies through falsified declarations. Their efforts to expose the misconduct reportedly drew threats. In one instance, former OPEKEPE president Kyriakos Babasidis sent a letter of reprimand to Kapounis, accusing him of “slandering OPEKEPE to the EU.”
Raids and resistance
On Monday, 19 May, European prosecutors raided OPEKEPE’s headquarters in Athens, seizing digital data stored both locally and in the cloud, as well as hard drives and mobile phones. Simultaneous operations were carried out at the agency’s regional offices in Crete and at the residences of four senior officials, including a former vice-president of the organisation.
The raid in Athens escalated into a tense standoff. According to EPPO, two prosecutors, accompanied by 20 police officers, arrived at 9:30 a.m. but were prevented from accessing the required data. OPEKEPE staff cited the absence of IT consultants as the reason for non-compliance. When prosecutors requested affidavits confirming the employees’ inability to cooperate, staff refused to sign them.
The prosecutors then demanded that OPEKEPE President Nikos Salatas sign an affidavit—or face arrest for obstructing justice. He eventually complied, and the prosecutors left the premises at 4 a.m. the following day, having secured the evidence.
While the operation was still underway, OPEKEPE issued a public statement claiming full cooperation with the investigation. However, EPPO soon released a sharply worded rebuttal, accusing the agency of obstructing the investigation and hinting at potentially systematic fraudulent activity involving OPEKEPE officials.
“Gathering digital evidence at OPEKEPE’s headquarters proved particularly challenging and was significantly delayed until 4:00 a.m.,” EPPO stated.
In response, OPEKEPE demanded a retraction from EPPO within 48 hours and threatened legal action to defend its reputation. The Ministry of Rural Development then announced Salatas’s dismissal, citing the public interest. Salatas, who had been in the role since January, refused to resign and insisted he had acted to protect the agency’s integrity. He was formally removed from his post late on Friday.
Despite his dismissal, Salatas appeared on television on Monday morning, insisting that the raid had been conducted “perfectly.” He singled out one prosecutor—Nikos Paschalis, who was not even present during the raid—as the author of EPPO’s damning statement, accusing him of “gross slander” and claiming the remarks were “an attack on our country.”
Future at risk
OPEKEPE has been under EU supervision since September 2024 due to ongoing non-compliance with operational standards. The agency now risks being stripped of its certification to manage EU agricultural funds, a decision expected during a follow-up visit by EU officials to Athens in July.
