Law enforcement officials in Greece detained 20 individuals on the island of Crete Monday, announcing they had broken up a criminal organization accused of stealing European Union agricultural subsidies in what represents the most recent development in an expanding fraud investigation that has created political turmoil for the government.
Police officials reported that the organization’s alleged ringleaders included two accountants along with government workers who helped farmers file paperwork to obtain EU agricultural funding through fraudulent land ownership claims.
Authorities stated that the criminal network generated illegal profits exceeding €3 million ($3.49 million) after beginning operations in 2019.
The Monday detentions represent the most recent developments in multiple local investigations connected to a broader examination by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office — an independent EU agency — into suspected criminal activity in Greece targeting the bloc’s financial resources.
During the previous year, European prosecutors brought charges against numerous Greek livestock farmers for falsifying grazing land ownership documents to obtain millions of euros in EU subsidies, allegedly with assistance from government employees and conservative politicians.
The fraud investigation has created significant political controversy in Greece, leading to parliamentary investigations — which reached no definitive conclusions — along with cabinet resignations and demands from opposition parties for early elections.
Following a request from the European chief prosecutor, parliament voted in April to remove parliamentary immunity from 13 lawmakers belonging to the ruling New Democracy party, allowing them to face investigation regarding their suspected involvement in related cases.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called on EU prosecutors to quickly determine whether to formally charge the lawmakers, as he attempts to limit the political damage from the investigation ahead of the upcoming parliamentary election scheduled by spring 2027.
