Greece shutters farm aid agency amid EU fraud investigation
The Greek government has shut down the agency responsible for managing and distributing EU agricultural subsidies due to repeated scandals and fraud cases involving EU funds, in a decision announced on Tuesday.
The move comes after the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) conducted searches last week as part of an investigation into an alleged organized fraud scheme and corruption involving public officials at the agency.
Between 2019 and 2022, a "significant number of individuals presented themselves as young or new farmers" and received EU funding "based on false declarations," the EPPO wrote in a statement.
"In most cases, the pastures declared were in fact public lands," and were "often located far away" from the claimants' place of residence, it added.
Rocky terrains, forests and even areas in neighbouring North Macedonia had been declared as agricultural land, the Greek daily To Vima reported.
Around 100 suspects have been charged with wrongfully receiving a total of €2.9 million ($3.29 million), the newspaper reported. The investigations suggest that since 2017, approximately €170 million may have been unlawfully disbursed, according to Greek media.
In other instances, the agency apparently failed to disburse available funds, which were then returned to the EU. Last year, this allegedly amounted to €87 million. Due to numerous irregularities, Greece had to pay penalties to the EU.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced during Tuesday's Cabinet meeting that the agency's tasks would be transferred to the central tax and finance office, AADE.
The approximately 520 employees would also be accommodated there, provided they are not proven to be involved in fraud cases. The AADE, an independent office responsible for public revenues in Greece, has recorded significant successes in the fight against tax fraud.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
33 minutes ago
- USA Today
Trump 'gold card' website opens. Here's how to join the $5 million waitlist
Trump 'gold card' website opens. Here's how to join the $5 million waitlist Show Caption Hide Caption Trump wants to sell $5 million 'gold cards' as path to citizenship President Donald Trump says he wants to offer wealthy immigrants "gold cards" that would give a pathway to citizenship in exchange for a $5 million purchase price. President Donald Trump's long-touted "gold card," which offers foreigners a path to U.S. citizenship after paying $5 million to the government, is open for business. But even if you have the money, there's a waitlist at And read the fine print carefully: Your $5 million doesn't buy you immediate citizenship. Trump has said that he is not seeking approval from Congress as he is not providing gold card buyers with citizenship - only a path to citizenship. The path to citizenship requirements for card buyers are unclear and White House officials have said more details will be provided soon. The most common path to U.S. citizenship through naturalization is being a lawful permanent resident for at least five years. It requires the applicant to be least 18 years old when they apply, be able to read, write, and speak basic English (depending on age) and be of "good moral character." Trump has described the card, which he has also dubbed the Trump card, as 'somewhat like a green card, but at a higher level of sophistication.' 'FOR FIVE MILLION $DOLLARS, THE TRUMP CARD IS COMING!,' President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social on June 11. 'Thousands have been calling and asking how they can sign up to ride a beautiful road in gaining access to the Greatest Country and Market anywhere in the World.' The website shows an image of the gold-colored card, emblazoned with a likeness of Trump's face, and asks a few questions including name, region, email address and if an applicant is applying for themselves or as a business. The new website asks interested people to fill out a form that specifies eight regions: Europe, Asia (including Middle East), North America, Oceania, Central America, South America, Caribbean and Africa. Other countries also offer immigration programs that offers permanent residency or citizenship to foreign investors in exchange for investment. Portugal, for example, offers residency and a path to EU citizenship after five years. When he first floated the idea in February, Trump said the card would replace the "EB-5" immigrant investor green card visa program, The EB-5 visa allows immigrant investors the option to invest between $800,000 and $1.05 million to obtain a green card. The investment money is used to help create or preserve U.S. jobs. 'Wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card,' Trump said in February. 'They'll be wealthy, and they'll be successful, and they'll be spending a lot of money, and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people.' 'It's a road to citizenship for people and essentially people of wealth or people of great talent where people of wealth pay for those people of talent to get in,' he said. Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
The European Commission Approves Alnylam's AMVUTTRA
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY) is one of the 13 Biotech Stocks with Huge Upside Potential. It declared on June 9, 2025, that AMVUTTRA® (vutrisiran) has been approved by the European Commission to treat wild-type or hereditary ATTR amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). A researcher studying genetic medicines under a microscope in a biopharmaceutical laboratory. As a result, AMVUTTRA is the first and only RNAi treatment approved in the EU for transthyretin amyloidosis symptoms that show as cardiomyopathy and polyneuropathy. The HELIOS-B Phase 3 research, which revealed a 36% mortality reduction over 42 months and a 28% decrease in all-cause mortality and recurrent cardiovascular events, served as the basis for the approval. More than 6,000 patient-years of safety data support the quarterly administration of the medication. The drug is already authorized in Brazil and the United States. Up to 100,000 individuals in Europe have ATTR amyloidosis, mostly as cardiomyopathy. An RNAi treatment called vutrisiran provides continuous knockdown by stopping TTR production at its source with quarterly injections. Functional and quality-of-life gains were validated by the HELIOS-B trial, which involved patients on SGLT2 inhibitors and tafamidis. Elevations of liver enzymes and injection site responses are frequent adverse effects. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY) is an innovator in the investigation of RNA interference medicines. While we acknowledge the potential of ALNY as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 10 High-Growth EV Stocks to Invest In and 13 Best Car Stocks to Buy in 2025. Disclosure. None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Italy forges on with world's largest suspension bridge
Italy hopes to begin constructing the world's largest suspension bridge connecting Sicily to the Italian mainland this summer amid widespread scepticism that it will ever be built. The 13.5-billion-euro ($15.3-billion) project would carry trains and six lanes of traffic, allowing cars to cross the Strait of Messina in 15 minutes. Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government hopes to boost the economy of the impoverished region, although critics say there are better ways to do this -- and many believe that after decades of false starts, the bridge will never actually happen. The choppy waters between the eastern tip of Sicily and the western edge of the region of Calabria are legendary as the place where monsters Scylla and Charybdis terrified sailors in Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey". These days the challenges are more prosaic, from winds of more than 100 kilometres an hour (62 mph) to the real risk of earthquakes in a region that lies across two tectonic plates. The government says the bridge will be at the cutting edge of engineering, with the section suspended between its two pillars stretching 3.3 kilometres, the longest in the world. But critics point to a long history of public works announced, financed and never completed in Italy, whether due to corruption or political instability, resulting in enormous losses for taxpayers. "The public does not trust this political class and these projects that become endless construction sites," said Luigi Storniolo, a member of protest group No Ponte (No Bridge). Infrastructure Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, one of the main champions of the project, insists it will be a game-changer for the local economy. "The bridge will be a catalyst for development," he said on a recent visit to Reggio di Calabria, the city where the bridge will begin. - 'A senseless project' - The government hopes to boost trade in Sicily, which currently suffers from an "insularity cost" of around 6.5 billion euros a year, according to regional authorities. Meloni's ministers are expected to give their final approval to the project -- which Rome will fund -- later this month, and Salvini insists construction will begin this summer. But work had already been announced for the summer of 2024, before being postponed -- a common theme in the history of the bridge, the idea of which dates back to the unification of Italy at the end of the 19th century. The first law for the project was passed in 1971. Since then, successive governments have either revived it or cancelled it. In 2012, the idea appeared to be definitely abandoned amid the eurozone debt crisis, only for Meloni's government, which took office in 2022, to return to it once again. Salvini has repeatedly stated that the bridge would create 120,000 jobs in Calabria and Sicily, which have the fourth and the 13th highest unemployment rates respectively in the EU for young people under 29. However, the left-wing CGIL trade union estimates around 2,300 workers a year will be hired during the project, and critics say the jobs created will be offset by long-term losses from the closure of ferries. - Mafia risk - The project has sparked local protests, with critics warning of the impact on a protected marine zone and an important bird migratory route. Storniolo told AFP it was a "senseless project" which used up valuable funds when "our regions already suffer from many problems... healthcare, schools, and infrastructure." The Italian Court of Auditors has also criticised the extent of the debt-laden Italian state's investment in this one project in its assessment of the 2024 budget. "They want to make an entire territory believe that its only hope is this bridge -- but then the bridge never arrives," protester Storniolo added. There is also the question of mafia infiltration. The attorney general of Messina recently warned of the risk that organised crime would benefit from the project, noting that "the power of the mafia is hidden... behind public contracts". The government has proposed placing companies relating to the project under control of an anti-mafia structure reporting to the interior ministry. But Italian President Sergio Mattarella blocked this, saying it should only be used for one-off events such as earthquakes or the Olympics. Salvini argued that the bridge can help tackle the mafia, saying: "You do not fight the mafia... with conferences and protests, but by creating jobs and giving hope to young people." str-gab/ar/ide/fg
