News

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Palermo (Italy) seized over €320 000 in assets and real estate, in an investigation, carried out in Calabria, into fraud involving agricultural funding.

On 30 March 2023, two individuals and one company were convicted by the Specialised Criminal Court in Slovakia of VAT and EU fund fraud committed between 2017-2018, following an indictment by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) regarding overevaluation of machinery to obtain EU funds.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has initiated an investigation against five Croatian citizens and one company for criminal offences of abuse of office and authority, as well as aiding and abetting the abuse of office and authority. Among the suspects are two officials of the City of Rijeka (Croatia), as well as the person responsible for the company under investigation, for which undue pecuniary gain is believed to have been obtained. All five suspects were arrested yesterday, 4 April 2023, at the EPPO’s request. 

On 4 April 2023, in a case investigated and prosecuted by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Milan (Italy), a judge of the Tribunal of Brescia convicted a public official of corruption.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), in cooperation with Croatia’s National Police Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (Policijski nacionalni Ured za suzbijanje korupcije i organiziranog kriminaliteta), arrested five individuals in Croatia today, 4 April 2023, on suspicion of abuse of office and authority, committed to the detriment of the EU’s Cohesion Fund.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Iași (Romania) is carrying out eight searches today, 4 April 2023, including at the headquarters of the Siret Customs Office and the residences of customs officials, in an investigation into a customs fraud scheme orchestrated to evade the payment of taxes and custom duties on imported tobacco.

On Friday, 31 March 2023, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in České Budějovice (Czechia) referred a criminal case to the Pardubice branch seat of the Hradec Králové Regional Court, where two individuals were indicted for fraudulently obtaining up to €190 000 in EU funds, for the provision of childcare services.

Last week (28 March 2023), a German court (Landgericht Landshut) convicted two out of ten suspects of organising a VAT carousel fraud scheme involving luxury cars. This follows an earlier conviction of five of the ten suspects in 2022.

In an investigation carried out by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Palermo, Sicily (Italy), over €239 000 in movable assets and real estate has been seized from a company suspected of agricultural funding fraud. These seizures were made by the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Agri-food of Messina (Reparto Carabinieri per la Tutela Agroalimentare di Messina).