ATHENS

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), an independent body of the European Union, has launched an investigation into major agricultural subsidy fraud in Greece, local media reported Monday.

The probe, focused on Greece’s Organization for Payments and Control of Community Aid Guidance and Guarantees (OPEKEPE), which administers EU agricultural subsidies in the country, exposed a widespread scheme to defraud the bloc’s funds through fictitious pastureland claims, the local Kathimerini daily reported, citing officials.

The investigation by the EPPO centers on many cases where individuals reportedly received the bloc’s funds for pastures they neither owned nor leased or for agricultural activities they never performed, it said.

As a consequence of the fraud, legitimate farmers were deprived of rightful subsidies, it added.

Speaking to the daily, EPPO spokesperson Tine Hollevoet accused the president of OPEKEPE, Nikos Salatas, of “actions aimed at obstructing the investigation.”

OPEKEPE issued a statement asserting full cooperation with the investigation. The EPPO responded with a strongly-worded statement accusing the Greek agency of noncooperation, suggesting possible systematic fraudulent practices.

OPEKEPE demanded that the EPPO retract its allegations within 48 hours, threatening legal action to protect its reputation.

Shortly thereafter, the Ministry of Rural Development announced Salatas’ dismissal, citing overriding public interest.

Salatas, who had been in office since late January, publicly refused to resign, claiming to defend the organization’s integrity, the report added.