(Luxembourg, 26 July 2023) – On Monday (24 July 2023), the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Bucharest submitted a plea agreement to the court, where the Deputy Mayor of Sibiu (Romania) admitted to having committed subsidy fraud prior to his term of office.
This subsidy fraud occurred in relation to four projects between March and October 2019, when the defendant was in his previous role as Director and Representative of the Teacher’s Training Centre in Sibiu (CCD Sibiu). During this period, the defendant used and presented several false and inaccurate documents and statements to the Intermediate Body for the EU’s Operational Programme ‘Human Capital’, supervised by Romania’s Ministry of National Education, in order to receive a total of around €700 000 (RON 3 352 307) in funding. As the fraud was detected before the full amount of the funding was distributed, the actual damage was limited to approximately €34 500 (RON 164 373).
In the presence of his lawyer, the defendant admitted to having committed the offences for which he was charged, accepted the legal framework for which the criminal proceedings were initiated, and agreed with the penalties imposed. These include 2 years and 3 months of imprisonment, suspended for a period of 3 years. In addition, the defendant will perform community service for a period of 90 days.
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.