This week (9 April), the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Paris (France) carried out searches and arrested four suspects in western France, in a probe into an alleged VAT fraud of around €60 million. More than €12.5 million were seized in assets, bank accounts and financial instruments in France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, alongside documents, data and media storage devices.

This week, an entrepreneur was fined by the Sofia District Court (Bulgaria) for attempted subsidy fraud and forgery of documents involving a car repair shop, following an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). 

At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Palermo (Italy), a freezing order of €226 000 was executed today against three farmers suspected of misappropriation of EU agricultural funds and forgery of documents.

In an investigation led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Bologna (Italy), the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) of Bologna and Prato have executed a freezing order of €7.3 million on the bank accounts of a freight forwarding company suspected of VAT fraud relating to the illegal importation of fabric from China.

In the context of an international large-scale investigation led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Venice (Italy), dozens of searches and seizures took place, and 22 arrests were made today in Italy, Austria, Romania and Slovakia, in a probe into an alleged criminal organisation suspected of defrauding €600 million from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) for Italy.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Sofia (Bulgaria) has proposed to the Sofia District Court an administrative penalty for a farmer suspected of agricultural subsidy fraud and document forgery.

At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Palermo (Italy), the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) of Sant'Agata di Militello have executed a seizure order against a baker suspected of agricultural funding fraud, with an estimated damage of €320 000.

Today, at the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Sofia (Bulgaria), searches are taking place in six companies and four private houses in two Bulgarian districts. The searches are intended to gather evidence in a suspected case of embezzlement, misuse of EU funds and money laundering linked to the construction of the Zheleznitsa tunnel, the longest road tunnel in Bulgaria that was recently opened for traffic.

The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) in Vilnius (Lithuania) in cooperation with the Financial Crime Investigation Service (Finansinių nusikaltimų tyrimo tarnyba - FNTT) is conducting a pre-trial investigation into a suspected fraud involving a former assistant of a Lithuanian Member of the European Parliament. 

At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Palermo (Italy), a freezing order of over €470 000, issued by the judge for preliminary investigations of the Court of Agrigento, was executed today against four farmers suspected of fraud involving EU agricultural funding, forgery of documents and money laundering.