The developments in the OPEKEPE case are multi-layered.

Another 12 out of a total of 37 defendants were brought before the investigator today. Meanwhile, valuable findings found by the authorities at the home of the 54-year-old accountant, who is allegedly involved in the scandal, upgrade the charges against him to a felony. At the same time, the testimony of one of the organization’s victims to SKAI is shocking.

Victims from the same family

Even two victims from the same family allegedly cheated the members of the ring with the illegal subsidies of OPEKEPE.

The case of a farmer from the village of Pella who fell victim to this particular ring is typical. As he complains to SKAI, he owns 10 acres, while 3,000 appeared in the system.

“The accountant gave the VAT number. What do we have, 20 acres. To me it says 3,000 rent. The child doesn’t have any and they put 1,000 on him too. Now some from the village are too, but they don’t speak. They got a little something. With the accountant. Mostly they are big heads. He also has bigger heads,” says the victim of the ring.

In fact, as the victim notes to SKAI, the accused accountant admitted before the judicial officer that he did not know the person he defrauded.

“The judge says to him: ‘do you know her?’ -“No”. “Did you ever call her?” -“No”. “And how did you get the money?”, he describes.

The “brain” from Giannitsa

A leading role seems to have been played by a 54-year-old accountant from Giannitsa who will apologize to the Special Investigator on Monday. The charges he will face were upgraded and include money laundering, but also participation in a criminal organization.

The indictment was amended by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office as the police found in his house, among other things, branded watches, but also bags from major fashion houses.

“They live a luxurious life and we suffer,” says a resident of the area.

The action of the accountant, but also of the 38-year-old leader of the ring, was a common secret in Giannitsa.

“The one who got hold of the mastermind has been in court before. He was in another office, doing mischief. They kicked him out and gave him permission to open his own office,” says another resident of the area.

The two defendants from Giannitsa used information from local residents, even from some who were not even farmers and did not own land.

The 12 defendants to the investigator – First remand

In the morning, another 12 defendants were brought before the Investigator. In their apologies, they denied the charges, claiming ignorance of the combinatorials.

“I own 15 acres and they suggested I apply for a new farmer, I received just over 900 euros. Afterwards I understood that other lands had been declared, by a gentleman I met in the detention center when I was arrested,” says one of the defendants.

“I am unemployed, I have nothing to do with the agricultural profession. I was approached and told that I would make 1,000 euros if I gave away the taxisnet codes. I didn’t declare the parcels of land,” says another.

“As in any case, there are people who lacked the element of knowledge and the element of guile. My principals were released”, comments Antonis Xylourgidis, the defendant’s lawyer.

Meanwhile, he was remanded in custody after his confession to the European investigator from the second group of defendants in the OPEKEPE case.

This is a defendant who allegedly had many financial transactions to and from the bank accounts of the alleged ringleader, with whom he also has a family relationship.

The remaining eight defendants who pleaded guilty have been released on parole, while the pleas of another three defendants remain.

The apologies will be completed on Monday with the leading members of the circuit.

“And he raises the dead…”

The police investigations bring to light more “bass”, as it seems that those involved in the scandal were taking advantage of the tax identification numbers of even dead people to make easy money.

In particular, the criminal organization had also “resurrected” dead people in order to increase the declared plots of land and the amounts of aid, exploiting the organization’s vulnerabilities.

For example, for two years a 60-year-old farmer from Pella appeared to own plots of land leased from a man, who died in 2021. In 2024, he received an aid of around 400,000 euros.

Another 45-year-old woman originally from Rethymnon appears to be leasing plots from 2020 to 2025, which belong to a man who died in 2023, but she continued to declare his fields.

The same woman is said to have leased the pasture of the Holy Monastery in Arcadia, while she lives and works in Kalambaka, Trikala.

For the years 2023 and 2024, he received support of approximately 30,000 euros. Another woman from Giannitsa, who died in 2015, was declared as a lessor in aid applications from 2020 to 2024, for plots of land in Chios, Larissa, Tsepelovo in Ioannina.

A 60-year-old woman from Giannitsa, who has been cultivating cotton since 2011, allegedly leases a plot of land from a man who has been dead since 2015, and who was not its owner.

In fact, the start of leasing the deceased’s non-existent fields has been declared 5 years after his death.

The 60-year-old received support from OPEKEPE of approximately 130,000 euros.

The accountant

The 54-year-old accountant seems to be a direct collaborator of the criminal organization. Many of the members of the spiral have declared to A.A.D.E. as a residential or business address the address of the accounting office and as a contact phone number his. It is worth noting that the balance of the accountant’s account is almost zero, even though he is active as a self-employed person, which, according to the police, indicates the existence of transactions outside the banking system.

Involved abroad

Two defendants have indicated “Giannitsiotis” as the leader of the criminal organization. A 38-year-old accused is in Romania as a… coach of a volleyball team. A 48-year-old has been in Germany for years, a 39-year-old in the USA, a 40-year-old is in Great Britain, and a 26-year-old has been working there for the last two months.