On 7 June 2023, two companies and two of their managers were convicted by the Regional court in Ostrava (Czechia) of subsidy fraud, following an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) into an employee-training project.
The case dates back to 2019, when two companies from the same group and their managers successfully applied for a subsidy of over €120 000 from the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. However, it was later demonstrated that the application of one the companies included false information regarding the criminal record of the applicants, as this company and its manager had been accused of a tax crime.
In addition, after being convicted of this tax crime, the companies then obtained up to €50 000 from the EU‘s European Social Fund, falsely declaring that they had not been convicted.
The defendants compensated all the damages, including interest.
One of the managers was sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment, suspended for 5 years, while the other was sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment, suspended for 3 years. In addition, the companies were sentenced to pay a pecuniary penalty of CZK 200 000 (€8 500) and are prohibited from applying to subsidies for a period of up to four years.
The verdicts were the result of an agreement on guilt and punishment (a plea bargain), as the defendants pleaded guilty to all charges. They were approved by the judge of the Court of Ostrava.
The investigation service of the Regional Police of Moravskoslezský kraj – Ostrava greatly supported this EPPO investigation.