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(Luxembourg, 4 November 2024) – Today, at the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Bratislava (Slovakia), the Slovak Presidium of the Police Force’s Office for Combating Organized Crime arrested 15 suspects, seized 17 bank accounts, and carried out 14 searches across Žilina and Nitra regions, in connection with an alleged €1.77 million EU subsidy fraud.
Between March 2018 and June 2023, the suspects allegedly submitted fraudulent applications to the Slovak Ministry of Economy for projects co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The suspects claimed subsidies for the procurement of specialised machinery, such as a multi-layered cast foil extruder and a bag production machine with carrying handles.
According to the investigation, the suspects bought low-cost machinery from China and falsely declared it as EU-made. They manipulated the procurement process to ensure that affiliated companies won the contracts, inflating the actual prices up to tenfold.
The group is suspected of falsifying invoices and conducting repetitive bank transfers to simulate full payment of the inflated prices. These alleged false records were then submitted to the Slovak Ministry of Economy to fraudulently secure €1.77 million in EU funds.
The action undertaken by the Slovak police involved the seizure of mobile devices, accounting records, computers, and criminal proceeds, including €40 000 in cash and €130 000 on bank accounts, in an effort to secure evidence and recover misappropriated EU funds.
All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the competent Slovak courts.
The EPPO is the independent public prosecution office of the European Union, responsible for investigating, prosecuting, and bringing to judgment crimes against the EU’s financial interests.