ATHENS — A probe into a large fraud involving a whole lot of tens of millions of EU farm funds in Greece is widening to incorporate a former official from the ruling New Democracy get together of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
This new strand of the investigation follows a report within the in.gr web site that Kalliopi Semertzidou, her accomplice and at the very least six different members of the family obtained €2.5 million in subsidies from OPEKEPE, the group in control of distributing EU farm funds in Greece, between 2019 and 2024.
Amid mounting stress following the report, Semertzidou resigned from her publish as coordinator of EU funds and ladies’s entrepreneurship in New Democracy.
She referred to as the allegations “a focused and slanderous assault with false claims” and in addition insisted in her resignation letter that her actions have been “clear and authorized.”
The Greek workplace of the European Public Prosecutor’s Workplace, or EPPO, is now awaiting findings from the Anti-Cash Laundering Authority, which raided the places of work of OPEKEPE on Wednesday. The raid sought info relating to EU subsidies obtained by people from the Thessaly area — together with Semertzidou, based on officers concerned within the investigation.
The authorities say that in the event that they discover proof of illicit wealth or a way of life that doesn’t align with declared revenue, they are going to freeze property and ahead the case to European prosecutors.
In a snowballing scandal, EPPO is pursuing dozens of instances by which Greeks obtained agricultural funds from the European Union for pastureland they didn’t personal or lease, or for agricultural work they didn’t carry out, depriving legit farmers of the funds they deserved. POLITICO first reported on the scheme in February.
Photographs of Semertzidou’s lavish life-style, displaying her driving a Ferrari and a Porsche, in addition to selfies with New Democracy leaders, circulated on social media.
The couple says the subsidies obtained have been all authorized and that the posh automobiles have been purchased a few years earlier than, whereas they’ve undergone a number of audits by authorities prior to now and have been cleared.
In the meantime, farmers in northern Greece have begun protesting, citing delays in subsidy funds from OPEKEPE. Some funds have been frozen amid ongoing judicial investigations.