With a convoy of 25 cars, those arrested for the ring with the illegal subsidies from the OKAYon Thursday morning (23.10.25).
The arrested were taken to GADA and then they will be transferred to the European Prosecutor’s Office in Athens, located on Loukareos Street.
It is recalled that the police made 37 arrests in Thessaloniki, Pella, Edessa, Ioannina, Attica and Crete for the dismantling of a criminal organization that was active in criminal frauds at the expense of the financial interests of the EU as well as the Greek economy.
According to information, they had received a total of 20 million euros in subsidies, of which at least 5 million were illegal.
The 38-year-old who appeared as a farmer lives in Giannitsa and had undertaken to find persons and lands, which have not been declared.
The second is a 36-year-old man from Crete, who worked in a document reception center.
The announcement of EL.AS
A criminal organization was dismantled from the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime of Northern Greece, the members of which were active in professionally and continuously committing the crime of fraud against the financial interests of the European Union and the national economy, illegally receiving aid from the Organization for Payments and Control of Community Aid Guidance and Guarantees (O.P.E.K.E.P.E.), with the use of false statements in the Single Aid Applications (A.A.E.) for illegal receipt of agricultural subsidies.
In order to dismantle the organization, a coordinated police operation was carried out in the morning hours of Wednesday, October 22, 2025, in various regions of the country (Thessaloniki, Pella, Imathia, Heraklion, Crete, Athens, Ioannina, Santorini) by police officers from the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime of Northern Greece, with the assistance of police officers from the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime of Crime, the Organized Crime Department of Crete and the Thira Police Sub-Directorate.
In this context, -36- members of the organization were arrested, including the leaders, as well as an accountant, who cooperated with the organization and assisted its activities.
The investigation of the case began following an order for a preliminary examination by the Hellenic Office of European Authorized Prosecutors, with a time period for the execution of the acts from April 2018 to May 2022, as well as following information received by the Financial Crimes Prosecution Department of the Sub-Directorate for Combating Organized Crime of Northern Greece. During the execution of the above order, it was established by the above service that the activity of the circuit continued until today, with the same methodology, common leading members and the same intended purpose.
From the study, processing and combined analysis of all the pre-investigative material, it emerged the formation and action of a criminal organization, with a structured hierarchy and distinct roles, whose members acted together, active in committing criminal fraud throughout the territory, seeking to obtain illegal financial gain.
Regarding the mode of action (modus operandi) the members of the organization:
they identified eligible but undeclared parcels and pastures of previous years, which they then fraudulently registered in the E9 application of third parties, either members of the organization or persons acting as a “showcase”. Entries were often deleted in a short period of time or were justified with unclear reasons (“update”, “A.T.A.K.”, “wrong entry”),
they submitted, either through Application Reception Centers (DOCs), or by using taxis codes, Single Support Applications (SAS), taking advantage of the specialized knowledge and experience of the leading members, as well as procedural gaps when submitting the applications,
they proceeded to mass declarations of plots of land as “property”, in the year 2025. In particular, the applicants attached white stickers as alleged certificates from the Region or declarations of identity, thus avoiding certain registration obligations (ATAK) and facilitating the receipt of emergency aid,
declared to the E.A.E. false numbers of livestock, which were not compatible with the National Livestock Register (often cattle in age groups with high M.Z.K. coefficients), in order to ensure increased eligibility and more pasture area than the public allocation,
they cooperated to achieve their goal with accountants and K.Y.D. employees, who undertook the drafting, submission and processing of applications.
In fact, in the majority of cases the plots in question were located at a great distance from the places of residence of the alleged owners or tenants, thus making their cultivation impossible.
The members of the organization had developed distinct roles as follows:
38 years oldheld the leading role in the organization, managed and coordinated the criminal activity. Taking advantage of his specialized knowledge and experience in the process of submitting Unified Applications for Aid (UEA) that he acquired as a project manager in certified Declaration Reception Centers (K.Y.D.), he identified eligible plots of land and pastures in areas of the territory that were not declared by anyone. In addition, processed or submitted E.A.E. members, using their personal taxisnet codes, receiving monetary remuneration, while engaging in money laundering operations, through betting, car buying, interbank transfers and luxury living,
30 years oldwhose bank accounts were used to carry out transactions indicative of money laundering and appeared to be the owner of IP addresses from which E.E.E. members of the criminal organization were processed or submitted,
68 years oldacted as an intermediary, as he received sums of money from members of the criminal organization and transferred them to the bank accounts of the 38-year-old, while his own bank accounts were also used to carry out movements that demonstrate acts of money laundering from criminal activities,
36 years oldemployee of the Declaration Reception Center (D.Y.D.), was processing or submitting E.A.E. members of the criminal organization and registered virtual electronic lease agreements from IP addresses belonging to him and another relative. Received and transferred money to and from members, while transferring money to the bank accounts of other senior members and a former senior member,
54-year-old, in his capacity as an accountant, appeared in statements of involved persons that had been submitted to the A.A.D.E., while his contact information, as well as his residence or business address had been declared to the A.A.D.E. by members of the criminal organization. Furthermore, he had transferred sums of money to natural persons, who falsely appear as property owners, while he had received a sum of money from a leading member through a bank account,
11 peoplekey members of the organization, appear as owners and lessors of the false declarations made in the E.A.E. real estate. Some of them had falsely modified their property status, they had also submitted false E.A.E. declarations. and had illegally received financial support, while many of them had carried out banking transactions with the leading members of the organization and a former leading member,
26 people, other members of the organization, submitted E.A.E. with false evidence of possession of real estate and/or livestock with the sole purpose of illegally collecting financial aid. Many of them had also carried out banking transactions with the chief members and former chief member.
In addition, the criminal organization had developed a structured and multi-layered system of legalization of the illegal income derived from the unjustified agricultural subsidies, with the aim of concealing their illegal origin, avoiding controls and gradually integrating them into the economic everyday life of its members:
the illegal aid was paid into the accounts of persons who had falsely declared property or livestock. In fact, several of the “beneficiaries” had not declared income from agricultural activity in the years 2023-2024, while their professional occupation was not related to the agricultural sector,
the sums received were immediately transferred through transfers to other accounts, relatives or associates, with the aim of disassociating them from the original criminal activity,
natural persons were used as “intermediaries” for withdrawals, transfers or deposits, with the aim of further concealing the route of the money,
fictitious invoices were issued for non-existent transactions to justify the existence of amounts as alleged business income (in total, identified -393-
invoices, with a total value of more than -1.7- million euros),
betting accounts and financial technology applications were used for deposits and internal transfers, which made tracing difficult,
the “cleaned” money was used to buy high-value assets (e.g. cars, two-wheelers, agricultural machinery, watches, jewelry),
cryptocurrency cards were used to further hide the origin of the money, while
fictitious transfers, changes of address or even marriage settlements were recorded to avoid sequestration of assets.
During the searches carried out in houses, -2- Declaration Reception Centers (K.Y.D.), accounting office, store and -3- businesses, among others, were found and confiscated:
-14- I.X.E. cars, -4- two-wheelers and harvesters, as products of money laundering from criminal activities,
-2- cryptocurrency cards,
jewelry and watches,
-11- mobile phones,
electronic computers,
digital storage media,
business seals,
multitude of sheep and goats and cattle,
multitude of documents and handwritten notes and
the amount of -34,720- euros.
Also, 22 grams of raw cannabis were seized from the home of one of the defendants and a separate case was filed.
At the same time, the Authority for the Legalization of Proceeds from Criminal Activities proceeded to freeze the bank accounts of -29- involved persons, with a total content of -120,000- euros, a bank deposit box, as well as betting accounts for which a thorough investigation will follow.
It is noted that, from the entire activity of the organization, from 2018 until today, the damage caused to the interests of the E.U. and of the Greek State is estimated to amount to at least -5,017,662- euros, while it is estimated that after the complete control of all the data it may exceed -10,000,000- euros.
Those arrested, with the case filed against them for – as the case may be – setting up a criminal organization, fraud related to the grants, obtaining a false certificate, prevention and suppression of income from criminal activities, as well as violation of the legislation on the responsible declaration, will be brought before the competent European Public Prosecutor.