Two defendants for participation in the alleged circuit of illegal subsidies By OPEKEPE, centered on Giannitsa Pellas, were sentenced by the Three-Member Chamber of Defects of Thessaloniki to 12 months in prison, with 3 years probation, each, for three cases of attempted fraud against the interests of the EU.
This is the 39-year-old who acts as «Chief» of the multi-member criminal organisation and the 55-year-old accountant- temporary prisoners already for the big case revealed last October, following an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor's Office and the Subcommittee on the Treatment of Organized Crime in Greece.
The case for which they were sentenced to a second degree by the Court of Appeal of Thessaloniki as mere accomplices in an attempt at fraud involved cases of farmers in 2019 and 2020. These cases, to a degree of misdemeanor, were investigated following complaints from Greek Justice.
The methodology followed is similar to that revealed by the investigation of the European Public Prosecutor's Office and the Organized Crime DEA, for which a large case-file concerning the whole of the period 2019-2024 was formed.
According to the indictment, the methodology was based on temporary registration «orphans» agricultural parcels in E9 of unsuspecting persons who appeared as their owners, in order to then declare the land as leased by farmers seeking agricultural subsidies.
The same court sentenced a farmer to a total of 12 months in prison, with a three-year suspension, for two attempts at fraud and one case of forgery, while the same sentence was imposed on another person (then deputy mayor) for false confirmation, because he confirmed the genuine signature of the temporary owner of parcels.
None of the four convicted were identified as extenuating. The case was first examined by a Yiannician court (the same penalties were retained).
