News

At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Palermo (Italy), a freezing order of over €190 000 was executed last week (5 June 2024) against a farmer suspected of misappropriation of EU agricultural funds. Real estate, equivalent to the value of the estimated damage, has been seized.

At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Milan (Italy), the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) have arrested a third suspect in an ongoing investigation into a large VAT fraud scheme, with estimated damage of approximately €50 million. 

A suspected ringleader of an €85 million VAT fraud has been arrested in Nairobi (Kenya), after hiding from the authorities, following an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Hamburg (Germany), code-named Goliath.

In an investigation led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Bucharest (Romania), several searches were carried out in Romania and Spain, as part of an investigation into a €10 million procurement fraud involving EU funds for the modernisation of water infrastructure and the improvement of energy efficiency.

At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Rome (Italy), seven individuals were arrested today in Italy, on suspicion of orchestrating an €18 million VAT fraud involving the trade of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) of Rome and Foggia also executed a freezing order, at the EPPO’s request, targeting bank accounts, real estate and other assets.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Bucharest (Romania) carried out nine searches last week in Buzău County, including in the premises of the municipal authority of Beceni, in an investigation into possible fraud and corruption involving a former mayor.

On 4 March 2024, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Madrid (Spain) initiated an investigation into possible irregularities affecting public contracts awarded by the health authorities of the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands to a single company, for the purchase of medical equipment, including protective masks, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Given that Spain’s Central Court of Investigation No. 2 was investigating the same company for contracts awarded by other health authorities, and since one of those contracts was co-funded by the EU, the EPPO requested additional information to determine whether the case fell within its mandate.

At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Palermo (Italy), a freezing order of over €15 million, issued by the judge for preliminary investigations of the Court of Palermo, was executed today against seven individuals and five companies, suspected of fraud involving EU funds, self-money laundering and tax evasion. 

An investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Brussels (Belgium), code-named ‘Kingdom’, has led to the arrest of seven suspects in the Netherlands, in a probe into a €13 million VAT fraud.