ATHENS — European prosecutors asked the Greek parliament on Wednesday to lift the immunity of the country’s agriculture minister and 10 other active MPs in an investigation into the spiraling farm fraud scandal.
“The investigation concerns alleged felonies and misdemeanors against the financial interests of the EU, namely instigation of breach of trust, computer fraud and false attestation with the intent to obtain for another an unlawful benefit,” the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in Athens said in a statement.
Among the names involved, all from the ruling, center-right New Democracy party, are Konstantinos Tsiaras, the current agriculture minister, and Civil Protection Minister Ioannis Kefalogiannis, according to one EU official and one Greek official granted anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. Prosecutors also asked lawmakers to lift the immunity of Kostas Karamanlis, a former transport minister already under scrutiny after a deadly train collision in 2023. (Tsiaras and Karamanlis did not immediately respond to requests for comment; Kefalogiannis said he was not aware of the investigation.)
The EPPO request “marks a significant development,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said in a statement. “We await the transfer of the case files to the Greek parliament so that each case can be assessed individually.”
Main opposition party, PASOK, said that if media reports are confirmed, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has no choice but to dismiss the ministers and deputy ministers from the government. The farm fraud scandal “bears the New Democracy party’s signature in clearly and in bold,” it said in a statement.
EPPO is pursuing dozens of cases in which Greeks received EU agricultural funds for pastureland they did not own or lease, or for agricultural work they did not perform, thereby depriving legitimate farmers of the funds they deserved. This multi-year, multi-million-euro scam was the subject of a POLITICO investigation in February 2025.
The case unveiled Wednesday applies specifically to crimes allegedly committed in 2021, as the broader investigation continues, according to several officials.
Deputy Health Minister Dimitris Vartzopoulos and Kostas Skrekas, secretary of the ruling party’s political committee, are also among the 11 MPs. Vartzopoulos said he was not aware of the development. Skrekas did not respond.
Five former MPs are also under investigation. In a separate request on the same investigation, EPPO also requested lifting the ministerial immunity of former Rural Development Minister Spilios Livanos and Fotini Αrampatzi, a deputy, over their alleged involvement. Livanos said he was not aware of the development; Arampatzi did not immediately respond.
According to Greek law, only the national parliament has the authority to investigate and prosecute current or former ministers.
This article has been updated.