One of the 22 defendants who testified in the case of illegal subsidies from OPEKEPE was ordered to be detained, while the others were released with restrictive conditions or without, and financial guarantees up to 10,000 euros. The marathon testimonies of the last 10 defendants from Crete were completed at dawn. One of the two accountants accused of submitting false declarations was sent to prison, while restrictive conditions were imposed on the remaining nine.
According to sources, an acting deputy mayor of a municipality in Rethymno, who had been operating a Declaration Reception Center since 2021, argued in his testimony that he had not committed any illegal act.
“According to the regulations, we do not have access to any land area, whether it is declared or not. Whoever comes forward declares the area and we simply proceed with the registration. We do not have access to E9 or Taxis codes,” he reportedly stated.
For his part, a farmer who received subsidies worth 71,000 euros argued that the agricultural plots he declared came from the application of the so-called “technical solution.” In total, 22 defendants testified in the case, who are allegedly involved in illegal subsidies from OPEKEPE.
