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

Romania: Five people and four companies indicted for fraud with EU funds for the development of the Danube Delta

Published on

On 19 December 2022, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Romania referred a criminal case to the Bucharest Tribunal Court, where five individuals and four companies have been indicted for participating in a criminal organisation to fraudulently obtain more than €3 million in EU funds for the development of the Danube Delta.

The charges against the defendants include using false, inaccurate or incomplete documents or statements to illegally obtaining funds from the EU budget; and changing, without complying with the legal provisions, the destination of the funds.

The suspects are believed to have formed an organised criminal group since 2018 in order to obtain European funds for the development of the Danube Delta (Regional Operational Program 2014-2020), in a fraudulent manner.

To this end, the suspects developed a scheme with several companies, controlled either directly or through intermediaries.

Two of the suspects are believed to have made available to the group four companies that had wrongfully obtained European funds and used them in other areas of Romania, outside of the Danube Delta. The suspects allegedly set up a system through which, based on inaccurate documents, they created a false appearance regarding the place of implementation of the projects, the existence of financial resources related to their own contribution and the transparent organisation of the procurement procedures. The manipulation of the procurement procedures led to the setting of artificially increased prices.

The third suspect supplied equipment to the four companies controlled by the other two, at an overestimated price.

Two additional suspects were consultants specialised in European funds and provided support to the group.

On 24 May 2022, as part of this investigation, fifteen locations in Bucharest, Gorj, Giurgiu and the Danube Delta area (Romania) were searched, at the request of the EPPO.

During the investigation, €500 000 were seized, as well as heavy equipment and real estate, all amounting to a total of 5 million.

In addition, a bail was set for three of the defendants, for a total of €1,7 million.

More about this case is in our 24 May 2022 press release.