EU-funded farm-subsidy agency OPEKEPE found to have paid at least tens of millions of euros for fictitious livestock and land; scandal triggers cabinet resignations, a record EU fine, and the agency's dissolution
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An investigation by Greek authorities, OLAF and the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) found that Greece's farm-subsidy agency OPEKEPE had for years paid EU Common Agricultural Policy subsidies for non-existent livestock and ineligible land, with prosecutors estimating over 22-23 million euros in fraudulent claims and dozens of arrests. The EU fined Greece a record 392 million euros in June 2025 over oversight failures, and OPEKEPE was subsequently dissolved. Rural Development Minister Kostas Tsiaras, Civil Protection Minister Ioannis Kefalogiannis and Deputy Health Minister Dimitris Vartzopoulos all resigned in April 2026 after their names appeared in a new EPPO case file referred to Parliament (which also sought the lifting of immunity for 11 MPs); Tsiaras and Kefalogiannis both declared their innocence, and in July 2026 EPPO closed the specific ministerial-liability inquiry into Tsiaras, which he called full vindication. Proceedings tied to other officials and the 11 MPs were continuing as of this report.
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