(Luxembourg, 12 May 2026) – The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Ljubljana (Slovenia) has filed an indictment at the District Court in Maribor against five companies and their representatives for suspected subsidy fraud involving funds from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), intended to improve the working conditions of their employees with disabilities.
According to the investigation, these five companies submitted applications to a public call from the Slovenian Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, financed by the RRF and aimed at companies with employees with disabilities, to introduce more flexible working arrangements tailored to their needs.
In their applications, the companies claimed that an independent entrepreneur would carry out activities to the benefit of their employees with disabilities, attaching various documents to prove his competence to meet the public call’s eligibility criteria. However, as the Ministry detected in time that one of these documents could be false, it reported the suspects and therefore no funds were awarded to the companies. The investigation conducted by the EPPO confirmed this and revealed that actually all statements and documents proving the suspected entrepreneur’s experience were false. As these false documents were provided to the companies by said entrepreneur, he was also indicted for aiding and abetting the fraud.
Had the suspected companies' applications been successful, they would have fraudulently obtained a total of €205 954.82 in EU funds.
The investigation could count on the support of the Police Directorate of Maribor (Policijska uprava Maribor) that under the direction of the EPPO conducted evidence-gathering activities, including searches at the premises of the companies and examination of seized electronic devices.
If found guilty, the representatives of the suspected companies face up to 5 years of imprisonment, while the aider/abettor faces up to 8 years of imprisonment as he is charged with an aggravated type of offence.
All persons concerned are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in the competent Slovenian courts of law.
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.