The cycle of testimonies in the case of illegal OPEKEPE subsidies in northern Greece, for which 17 people had been arrested, was completed with three defendants remanded in custody.

The three defendants who were remanded after testifying before the European investigating judge are alleged to have played a leading role in the case and were taken to prison.

Based on the decision of the investigating judge and the European Delegated Prosecutor, three other defendants were placed under house arrest, two of whom are the spouses of alleged leaders, while another defendant was released under restrictive conditions.

In total, after the completion of the testimonies, 11 defendants were released, three were remanded in custody and three were placed under house arrest.

Those involved face five felony charges: forming, directing and membership of a criminal organisation, fraud against the financial interests of the European Union involving more than €120,000, and money laundering.

All the defendants denied the charges. One of the alleged ringleaders claimed that he is a farmer and that his declarations are entirely legal, while his wife took the same line, stating that she was unaware of the financial details her husband was managing.

Another defendant, who was also remanded in custody and is alleged to have played a leading role, claimed that no sums were found in his bank accounts. As he stated in his defence, ‘I gave the money that came in from the Serres Criminal Investigation Department to my fugitive co-defendant.’

At the same time, he claimed that he had bought two used cars after previously selling a tractor he owned and a plot of land with an objective value of approximately €300 per hectare. He said these facts did not amount to money laundering.

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