The Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) has taken on the task of recovering stolen funds from the OPEKEPE agricultural subsidy scandal. However, market experts suggest that those responsible will likely end up owing money to the state rather than facing more severe consequences, as most of the illicitly obtained funds have already been spent on real estate, luxury SUVs, swimming pools, and other extravagant investments.
A special team is set to be formed immediately by AADE to clean up this financial mess. In the first phase, the group will focus on identifying all individuals who illegally received agricultural subsidies. In a second stage, efforts will shift to reclaiming the unlawfully paid amounts.
According to the plan being developed, a multi-layered cross-checking process will begin, targeting farmers dating back as far as 2016 — starting with those who received the largest sums. This will involve comparing declared land acreage with property declarations (E9 forms), verifying rental contracts for reasonable value (rejecting zero-value leases), and checking animal purchase invoices against declared livestock numbers used to claim subsidies.
Once discrepancies are identified, the recovery process will follow the provisions of the Code for the Collection of Public Revenues (KEDE), including potential bank account freezes to secure state interests. The illegal subsidies will be reclaimed from accountable farmers, not from intermediaries who facilitated fraud without consequence, such as in the case of falsified pastures.
This process is expected to be long and complex due to the scale of the issue (€415 million), the time-consuming nature of data verification, and the intricate methods used to conceal wrongdoing — particularly through repeated modifications to E9 forms to erase traces.
It’s important to note that the €415 million flagged by the European Commission concerns horizontal corrections, meaning EU officials do not know exactly which farmers benefited illegally or how many were involved. Rather, they identified systemic gaps in the subsidy distribution process between 2016 and 2023.
Meanwhile, the Greek government plans to legally challenge the Commission’s decision, though this appeal won’t halt the domestic recovery effort. Regardless, the Commission intends to withhold the €415 million from 2026 subsidies, potentially spread over three installments (2026–2028) if agreed upon.
To avoid burdening both legal and illegal beneficiaries, these funds will initially come from the national budget and be replenished once recovered through enforcement actions. There are also concerns that this scandal could impact Greece’s 2026 fiscal planning, particularly regarding proposed tax relief measures focused on direct taxation. However, official sources insist that the tax reduction agenda remains intact unless unforeseen internal or external factors force a reevaluation.