Germany: EPPO probes €717 000 subsidy fraud involving funds for unemployed people

(Luxembourg, 13 November 2026) – At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Berlin (Germany), searches were carried out on Tuesday, as part of an investigation into suspected fraud involving EU-funded projects aimed at helping unemployed people enter the labour market.

The searches were conducted in Magdeburg and other locations in Saxony-Anhalt, Leipzig and Werdau in Saxony, as well as in Erfurt, by the State Criminal Bureau of Saxony-Anhalt (Landeskriminalamt Sachsen-Anhalt) and local police agencies.

The investigation concerns €717 000 in EU funding awarded for two projects to a German non-profit limited company affiliated with a religious entity. The projects, co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF), aimed to facilitate the integration into the labour market of people who had been unemployed for an extended period through vocational training.

However, the investigation found that the non-profit organisation provided inaccurate information and submitted forged documents. The organisation is suspected of providing false information about the training facilities, presenting unused basement rooms as seminar rooms, and also of overstating the number of course participants.

The suspected irregularities also concern the costs of cleaning services at the premises used for the training courses. These costs were included in the project budgets, as the premises were regularly used for training activities. 

The cleaning contract was awarded to a company affiliated with the same non-profit organisation, whose offer was presented as the most economical of three bids. However, one of the other two offers is suspected of having been forged to give the appearance of a legitimate tendering process. An expert consulted during the preliminary investigation also found that the estimated cleaning time and scope of services had been significantly overstated, resulting in an inflated contract price.

To compensate the estimated damage to the EU budget freezing orders were issued totalling approximately € 717 000. 

All persons concerned are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the competent German 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.