The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Palermo (Italy) seized over €320 000 in assets and real estate, in an investigation, carried out in Calabria, into fraud involving agricultural funding.
According to the investigation, three suspects have forged statements to falsely declare ownership and possession of lands in the province of Crotone (Calabria), in order to obtain European Union agricultural funds.
One of the suspects had previously received an anti-mafia prohibition from the chief of the prefecture ('prefetto’) of Crotone, which excluded this person from obtaining public funding, according to the provisions of the Italian Anti-mafia Code.
The suspects are believed to have committed an aggravated fraud in order to obtain EU agricultural funds, to the amount of €320 000, between 2015 and 2022.
On 22 March 2023, the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Agri-food of Messina (Reparto Carabinieri per la Tutela Agroalimentare di Messina) executed a seizure of over €320 000 in assets and real estate, in order to recover the damages to the EU budget.