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(Luxembourg, 22 December 2023) – On Wednesday, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Bucharest (Romania) filed an indictment at the Bucharest Tribunal against four Romanian citizens, for fraud and forgery of documents involving funding for young farmers from the diaspora.
At issue are EU funds aimed at supporting young farmers living abroad, to help them come back to work in the agricultural sector in Romania. In order to obtain this support, the candidates had to certify that they had had a job in agriculture, veterinary, the agri-food sector or in the agrarian economy, outside Romania’s borders, for at least three months, in the two years prior to submitting the application.
In June 2021, the defendants submitted an application to obtain non-reimbursable funds from the EU budget to the amount of €120 000 (RON 584 196). According to the evidence, the defendants, to certify that they had worked abroad, submitted false and inaccurate documents to Romania’s Agency for Financing Rural Investments (AFIR), including temporary employment contracts concluded with a Spanish company in May 2020 and lease contracts for a home in Spain, as well as residence registration certificates for a city in Spain. These documents, according to the investigation, were false, as determined after consultation with the EPPO office in Madrid (Spain). As a result, the defendants were able to obtain €90 000 (RON 438 147) in undue EU funds.
In order to recover the damage to the EU budget, the EPPO has initiated proceedings to freeze the defendants’ assets.
If convicted, the defendants face prison sentences of up to 7 years for subsidy fraud, and an additional three years for forgery of official documents and private documents.
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.