- “Odyssey” and “Calvary” for the employee who saw millions pass by. Prosecuted for misappropriation of documents after public humiliation.
- While the Minister of Justice, Giorgos Floridis, has signed the transfer of the employee to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Minister of Rural Development keeps the request in his drawer, passing the buck to the organization’s administration.
- How does the office of the Minister of Rural Development, Kostas Tsiaras, respond to Data Journalists?
- The European Public Prosecutor’s Office in Athens has filed a criminal complaint with the Athens Court of First Instance against a total of 100 people suspected of fraud involving agricultural funds.
- Six people are due to stand trial on May 21 for allegedly fraudulently claiming grazing land in Grammos.
- In 2024, the European Commission fined OPEKEPE 281 million euros for illegal subsidies granted in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
By Vaggelis Triantis
“Who rules this country?” This phrase is attributed to Konstantinos Karamanlis in the spring of 1963, when he was informed of the assassination of EDA (United Democratic Left) MP Grigoris Lambrakis. More than 80 years later, Karamanlis’ words echo like a macabre prophecy of what has been unfolding in recent years at the Organization for the Payment and Control of Community Agricultural Aid (OPEKEPE). For months, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office has been investigating subsidies granted to farmers for the use of pastureland from 2017 to the present.
In fact, last May, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in Athens filed a criminal complaint with the Athens Court of First Instance against 100 suspects for fraud involving agricultural funds, causing a total loss of 2.9 million euros to the EU budget.
At the same time, the former head of OPEKEPE’s internal audit department, Paraskevi Tycheropoulou, who uncovered numerous irregularities in the organization’s subsidies, is undergoing her own “Calvary”. According to Data Journalists’ sources, Ms. Tycheropoulou has been dismissed from her position as head of the internal audit department, and three disciplinary proceedings have already been initiated against her by OPEKEPE. A criminal complaint has also been filed against her. Despite the fact that many of the irregularities she uncovered involving Greek and European taxpayers have led to the opening of criminal cases and the indictment of those involved, she is now facing legal action.
What is also striking is the attitude of the administration of OPEKEPE and the leadership of the Ministry of Rural Development regarding their relationship with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, where Ms. Tycheropoulou works as a special advisor. Although the European Public Prosecutor’s Office has been requesting her transfer for months, and the request has already been signed by Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis, it has not yet been approved by the Ministry of Rural Development. Data Journalists contacted the Ministry of Rural Development, headed by Kostas Tsiaras, with this question. In response, the minister’s office effectively referred the matter back to the current administration of OPEKEPE. So who is really in charge of OPEKEPE?
Fictitious Pasture Rentals and Livestock Farmers Without Animals
In 2020, the then president of OPEKEPE, Grigoris Varras, informed the judicial authorities of various cases of illegal subsidies allegedly granted by OPEKEPE to producers between 2017 and 2020. Mr. Varras, who is an associate professor at the University of Ioannina, was reportedly a personal choice of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to head OPEKEPE. One of the cases he reported to the judicial authorities concerned producers from Crete. These producers had submitted applications for the allocation of the National Reserve in 2020, using leased private pastures in various parts of the country. However, according to Mr. Varras’ findings, none of them actually owned animals, although they claimed to be farmers. An internal investigation by OPEKEPE also revealed that the areas declared as private pastures in previous years were actually public land. In other words, these producers appeared to have rented thousands of hectares of pastureland within a year. In addition, the rental prices for these pastures were allegedly much lower than the usual rates for pasture rentals, raising suspicions that the rentals were fictitious and intended to fraudulently claim EU subsidies from the national reserve, totaling approximately €250,000. The judicial authorities launched a preliminary investigation that resulted in the indictment of 16 individuals. These individuals have been referred to the three-member Court of Criminal Appeals for trial, which is scheduled for May 30, 2025.
The lawyer, the owner of KYD and the pastures of Grammos
Another case that mobilized the judicial authorities concerned the granting of subsidies for private pastures in the region of Grammos. As in the case of the Cretan producers, in this case the producers appeared as tenants of pastures in Grammos. One of the persons involved was a lawyer residing in Attica, who was shown to have leased pastures in Grammos from a resident of Larissa. A relative of the lawyer also appeared to have rented pastures in Grammos from the same Larissa resident who was listed as the landowner. Using these areas, they applied for national reserve subsidies for 2019. However, an inspection by OPEKEPE revealed that the land presented as leased had previously been classified as public land.
In this case, another problem arose: the two applicants for the pastures were close relatives of the owner of a declaration reception center (KYD). KYDs play a key role in the subsidy process through OPEKEPE, as they are the offices where farmers submit their applications to receive subsidies. This coincidence in the Grammos case aroused suspicion within the OPEKEPE administration at the time and among its internal auditors. The judicial authorities opened a preliminary investigation that led to the filing of criminal charges. Six people, including the lawyer and the former owner of KYD, have been referred for trial. The trial is scheduled for May 21, 2025.
Findings of the Former Head of OPEKEPE’s Internal Audit Department
The reports submitted by Professor Grigoris Varras to the prosecution authorities were based on audits carried out by Paraskevi Tycheropoulou, the former head of the internal audit department of OPEKEPE.
According to information obtained by Data Journalists, Ms. Tycheropoulou had provided Mr. Varras with detailed evidence of the irregularities she had uncovered in the administration of agricultural subsidies. However, events soon took an unexpected turn. A year after his appointment, Mr. Varras was removed from his position as President of OPEKEPE at the insistence of the then Minister of Rural Development, Makis Voridis. In public statements, Mr. Varras linked his removal to “organized interests” and “European subsidies”. Shortly after his dismissal, he was appointed as a special advisor within the Prime Minister’s General Secretariat for Administration and Organization. According to Data Journalists, sources within the Maximos Mansion regard Mr. Varras as “an outstanding technocrat who tried to carry out his duties with integrity.
Meanwhile, Ms. Tycheropoulou has found herself on her own “Golgotha”. Successive administrations at OPEKEPE have initiated three disciplinary proceedings against her, while a criminal complaint has also been filed for alleged misappropriation of documents. According to Data Journalists, the documents in question are official records found in her office at OPEKEPE – raising serious doubts as to whether this is indeed embezzlement. To date, two of the three disciplinary cases have been frozen, while the third remains under investigation to determine whether any disciplinary liability exists. The treatment of Ms. Tycheropoulou by the leadership of OPEKEPE is particularly striking given that the irregularities she reported have led to criminal prosecutions – and in one case, initial convictions – of those involved.
The Pending Secondment to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office
At the same time, statements made to Data Journalists by lawyer Antonis Vagianos – who represents Ms. Tycheropoulou – are particularly revealing. Vagianos stresses that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which already cooperates with Ms. Tycheropoulou by using her expertise, has officially requested her secondment to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. Although the secondment has been signed by Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis, it remains “stuck in the drawer” of Rural Development Minister Kostas Tsiaras.
“Ms. Tycheropoulou is one of the most experienced – if not the most experienced – auditor at OPEKEPE. Her audit reports have led to the creation of numerous case files and convictions for creating artificial conditions to fraudulently secure OPEKEPE subsidies,” said Vagianos. “She is also the only OPEKEPE official working with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office as a special advisor. In order to facilitate its investigations, the EPPO has formally requested her secondment to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. However, despite having already received the necessary signature from Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis, her secondment has been inexplicably blocked for months by Rural Development Minister Kostas Tsiaras, who refuses to authorize it.
At the same time, Ms. Tycheropoulou is being treated as an outsider within OPEKEPE. After being vindictively removed from her position as head of the Internal Audit Directorate – and publicly humiliated on the DIAVGEIA platform as “administratively incompetent” – she was transferred to a “freezer” post in the organization’s registry department, cut off from any access to computerized systems. Meanwhile, the administration has initiated three disciplinary proceedings against her (two of which have been inactive for months) and filed a lawsuit. It is clear that Ms. Tycheropoulou’s continued presence in the organization is seen as inconvenient, and every means is being used to ensure that she remains sidelined and inactive. At the same time, it is clear that certain circles are keen to obstruct her cooperation with the European Public Prosecutor.
“These circumstances raise even more serious questions about the attitude of Mr. Tsiaras, who refuses to authorize her secondment so that Ms. Tycheropoulou can be fully utilized at the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and facilitate the ongoing investigations,” attorney Mr. Vagianos told Data Journalists.
Ministry of Rural Development: “We have forwarded the request to OPEKEPE”
Ministry of Rural Development: “We have forwarded the request to OPEKEPE” Ministry of Rural Development: “We have forwarded the request to OPEKEPE” Data Journalists contacted the office of the Minister of Rural Development, Kostas Tsiaras, and raised the issue of the secondment request for Ms. Tycheropoulou.
The Minister’s office provided the following response: “As the Ministry of Rural Development, we have forwarded the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to OPEKEPE and we will proceed immediately in accordance with the provisions of Greek and European Union law”.
However, the request for Ms. Tycheropoulou’s secondment has been pending for several months, raising questions about the attitude of both OPEKEPE and the Ministry of Rural Development. These questions are all the more pressing in light of the fact that, since last January, the presidency of OPEKEPE has been held by a member of the judiciary: Nikolaos Salatas, Honorary President of the Court of Appeal. Mr. Salatas is a judge with a long history on the board of the Union of Judges and Prosecutors, known for his ties to the political faction of New Democracy (ND).
Investigations by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Charges
At the same time, the subsidies granted by OPEKEPE for the use of pasture land are being investigated by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. In March, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in Athens filed charges with the Athens Court of First Instance against a total of 100 suspects for fraud involving agricultural funds, resulting in a total loss of 2.9 million euros to the EU budget. According to a press release, the three indictments were filed in recent months following investigations into networks that defrauded the EU of subsidies for the use of grazing land.
According to the investigation, the suspects submitted false ownership declarations or altered lease contracts for land they did not actually own or lease during the period 2017-2020. Most of the suspects lived in different parts of the country than they had indicated in their applications, the release said.
According to information from Data Journalists, European prosecutors are investigating the subsidies granted by OPEKEPE even after 2020. This is a period in which the administrations of OPEKEPE changed frequently. The investigation focuses on how the fraud against the financial interests of the EU was orchestrated, as well as the possible involvement of OPEKEPE executives and employees.
However, the question that naturally arises in the light of what happened at OPEKEPE is whether any of the employees involved were acting on the orders of their political superiors.
In other words, whether political instructions were given to illegally grant EU subsidies to producers simply to satisfy their electoral clientele. If so, this would be not only an economic scandal, but also a colossal political scandal.
The fine of 281 million euros and the “watchful eye” of the Commission
Let us not forget that in 2024 the European Commission imposed a fine of 281 million euros on OPEKEPE for subsidies granted in the financial years 2020, 2021 and 2022. More specifically, based on the decision of the Directorate-General for Agriculture (DG AGRI), the charges concern the financial years 2020, 2021 and 2022, corresponding to the OSD (Single Payment Scheme) applications of 2019, 2020 and 2021. Of this amount, € 260.361 million is related to area aid and € 22.855 million is related to multiple compliance.
The European Commission found that in 2020 there was an abnormal increase in applications from the National Reserve of Rights to Grazing Land without animals. In 2022, the Greek authorities carried out extensive checks and took measures against the population of beneficiaries who applied for grazing rights without animals, according to reports from that time.
