(Luxembourg, 6 March 2026) – At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Turin (Italy), the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) of Biella seized assets worth €1.98 million in an investigation into suspected fraud involving funds from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) for Italy.
The investigation, code-named Nuovi Orizzonti (‘New Horizons’), concerns a suspected organised criminal group that allegedly defrauded public budgets by obtaining RRF funds and by claiming tax credits for fictitious energy efficiency works. According to the investigation, the suspects, tax advisors and accounting service centres operating across Italy, set up companies in the names of strawmen and falsified the companies’ accounts to prove non-existent financial solidity and access almost €2 million in public financing and fiscal incentives, of which €125 000 from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) for Italy.
Last week, the Guardia di Finanza of Biella, supported by their colleagues from Piedmonte, Lombardy, Veneto, Tuscany, Basilicata and Calabria, executed a preventive order to seize up to €1.98 million in assets, issued by the Court of Biella. Amongst the assets frozen, belonging to 12 individuals, are balances of current bank accounts, three properties, two luxury cars and shares in three companies.
This seizure is the second one in this ongoing investigation, as previously reported in July 2025, when searches and seizures worth €3.3 million took place.
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.