OPEKEPE Scandal: Former Officials Sentenced to 5 Years, 8 Months

Two former officials at the heart of Greece’s OPEKEPE farm subsidy scandal have been convicted of harboring a criminal and breach of duty, each drawing a sentence of five years and eight months, though neither will serve time while an appeal is pending. The Athens Three-Member Misdemeanor Court convicted former OPEKEPE president Dimitris Melas and Athanasia Reppa, the agency’s former head of direct subsidies and technical projects, by majority verdict. The sentences were suspended, and both were allowed to walk free until their appeal is heard.

A more serious charge still to be tried

The same court sent both defendants to trial before the Three-Member Court of Appeals for Felonies on the graver charge of document concealment, which the prosecutor had earlier argued should be treated as a felony rather than a misdemeanor. Until that trial concludes, both are barred from leaving the country.

For the felony charge, the prosecutor had pushed for tougher conditions: a travel ban, twice-monthly check-ins at a police station, bail of 100,000 euros each, and a bar on holding any public post.