The one-member Misdemeanors Court of Athens served 13 defendants with jail sentences ranging from 6 to 40 months over the fraudulent allocation of EU funds through the OPEKEPE agency, on Monday.

It was the first trial for misappropriated funds for cattle farmers related to OPEKEPE, the case that led to fines levelled on Greece by the European Prosecutor's office, as several Athens courts are reviewing cases.

Today's case relates to subsidies handed out in 2019-2020 for false applications of grazing lands in Fthiotida, Central Greece. According to the case file, 12 defendants received EU funding from 26,00 euros to 91,000 euros each, with the total amount disbursed by European funds exceedimg 440,000 euros.

The 13th defendant, former president of the Agricultural Cooperative of Makryrachi of Fthiotida, appeared to have allotted land to his fellow-defendants, including two siblings closely connected to a former OPEKEPE local official. The land lots lie in the Private Forest of Agoriani and in Makryrachi, and were included in applications as contiguous lots for grazing cattle.