Skip to main content
European Union flag
English
The independent public prosecution office of the EU
Report a crime

Lithuania: EPPO uncovers €6 million EU subsidy fraud involving organised crime

Published on
machines

(Luxembourg, 16 January 2025) – An organised crime group suspected of misappropriating nearly €6 million in EU structural funds for innovative manufacturing solutions, such as recycled plastics and green concrete, has been the target of large-scale investigative measures led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Vilnius (Lithuania), since early December 2024.

Over 100 law enforcement officers of the Financial Crimes Investigation Service of the Republic of Lithuania (FNTT) carried out more than 90 searches and many seizures and arrested six suspects, including former and current company directors, who will remain in custody for two to three months. The suspects are under investigation for participation in an organised crime group, high-value fraud, money laundering, and illegal activities involving legal entities.

The investigation concerns fraudulent schemes allegedly carried out between 2018 and 2024, during which the organised group systematically misled the administering authority to obtain EU funds unlawfully. Evidence indicates that the suspects simulated commercial relations and fictitious financial transactions between companies under their control, fraudulently inflating costs and creating the impression of contributing their own funds to EU-funded projects. 

It is also alleged that the group physically altered equipment – including repainting and replacing manufacturer identification plates – to conceal the true condition, origin, and price of the machines, as well as to hide the identity of the actual sellers.

More than 30 Lithuanian and foreign companies are suspected of involvement in the scheme. To date, freezing orders have been imposed on bank accounts belonging to the suspects and legal entities, and over 200 accounts are being analysed. Further investigative assistance has been sought from EPPO offices in Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Italy and Latvia to collect additional evidence.

All persons concerned are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the competent Lithuanian 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.