News

On 19 May 2023, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) referred a criminal case to the Bucharest Tribunal Court, in Romania, where two individuals and one company were indicted for fraud involving the construction of an agro-tourism guesthouse.

Forty house searches are being carried out today, 16 May 2023, in several locations in Romania and France, as part of an ongoing investigation led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Bucharest into suspected fraud involving EU and national funds, amounting to more than €30 million.

At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Rome (Italy), the judge for preliminary investigations of the Tribunal of Foggia issued a freezing order of over €420 000, in an investigation into fraud involving the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).

On Wednesday (10 May 2023), a company and a company manager were convicted by the Regional Court in Ostrava (Czechia), in an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Zlín. They were found guilty of subsidy fraud affecting the financial interests of the EU, with damages to the EU budget of around €74 000.

Last week, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Bucharest (Romania) indicted five persons and two companies for EU funding fraud worth an estimated €1.7 million.

In early May, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Turin (Italy) seized money and real estate with a value of €530 000 from an agricultural company in the village of San Pietro Mosezzo (Piedmont region). Three people are under investigation for aggravated fraud and embezzlement to the detriment of the EU budget.

As previously reported, in January this year, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Zagreb filed an indictment against six defendants for the illegal trade of cigarettes, tax or customs duty evasion and bribery, committed as part of a criminal organisation.

Today, 10 May 2023, the County Court in Zagreb passed a verdict in which three defendants (the first, the second and the fifth defendants from the indictment) were found guilty of the above-mentioned criminal offences.

On Friday, 5 May 2023, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Madrid (Spain) carried out two searches and seized nine bank accounts and other assets, in an investigation into a suspected criminal organisation dedicated to fraud involving European Union agricultural funds.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Palermo (Italy) has seized over €700 000 in assets against seven suspects and their companies, in an investigation into fraud involving national and EU agricultural funding aimed at supporting the conversion to organic farming.