Four Greek MPs indicted in EU farm scandal: prosecutors

The European Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday said four Greek members of parliament were among 22 people indicted over a multi-million-dollar EU farm subsidy scandal that has rocked the government.

The agency said it had “indicted 22 defendants, including four current members of the Hellenic Parliament, several former high-ranking public officials and political staff, as part of an investigation into an alleged organised fraud scheme involving agricultural funds.”

Those indicted include a former political secretary of the ruling New Democracy party and several former officials of the state agency distributing the subsidies, OPEKEPE. One is a former chairman of the agency.

Among the lawmakers, accusations include instigation to commit abuse of trust, instigation to unlawful management of EU funds, and instigation to false attestation and attempted computer fraud, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) said.

The lawmakers are under investigation for allegedly enabling dozens of private individuals to make subsidy claims for land that they did not own, and exaggerating the number of animals on farms.

‘Unlawful interventions’

An EPPO statement said evidence “indicates, among other things, unlawful interventions in administrative and inspection procedures, retrospective alterations of data following the completion of mandatory controls, unlawful interference with on-the-spot inspections, the concealment and manipulation of inspection findings, and false certifications.”