(Luxembourg, 7 October 2025) – At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Venice (Italy), law enforcement have executed a freezing order of €17.2 million, in an investigation involving 48 farmers suspected of criminal association to defraud EU agricultural funds. They are believed to have set up an elaborate fraud scheme to obtain over €20 million in subsidies between 2017 and 2022.
The investigation exposed a fraudulent system created by an organised group, headed by two of the suspects, to unduly obtain subsidies from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF), by circumventing the limits imposed by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which set the maximum annual limit for each applicant at €500 000. To achieve this, they distributed the assets of an agricultural company based in the province of Padua between 12 shell companies, located in the regions of Abruzzo, Veneto, Lazio, Marche and Umbria.
The investigation also uncovered a fraudulent scheme designed to bypass the national ban on grazing carried out by third parties, introduced in 2015 – intended to ensure that only those directly involved in agricultural work could access public subsidies. Based on the evidence, several farmers from Northern Italy entered into agreements with the organisers of the scheme, to formally obtain land, livestock and stables – thus creating the appearance of legitimate farming operations, needed to apply for EU agricultural subsidies.
However, based on the evidence, the companies applying for financial support did not carry out any actual grazing activities. These were instead managed entirely by the leaders of the fraudulent scheme, who maintained effective control over the operations.
In order to compensate the damage to the EU budget, the Judge for Preliminary Investigations at the Court of Padua issued a freezing order of €17.2 million. The Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) of Padua seized plots of land, apartments and villas, and froze bank accounts. In addition, 8 590 Basic Payment Entitlements under the CAP were seized, worth €4 million.
The agricultural entrepreneurs were also reported to the Regional Prosecutor’s Office of the Court of Auditors of Veneto for financial damage to the National State amounting to €32.1 million, resulting from their fraudulent conduct.
All persons concerned are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the competent Italian courts of law.
The EPPO is the independent public prosecution office of the European Union. It is responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU.