The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) today arrested three individuals suspected of being part of a criminal organisation involved in smuggling tobacco into Italy and France, during an operation carried out with the help of the Genoa Provincial Command of the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza).

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) today filed an indictment against six defendants in the Vilnius District Court (Lithuania) for fraud relating to procurement procedures, which caused damages of €580 000 to the EU budget, since fully recovered thanks to the timely investigation.

Today, the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) in Palermo is carrying out a preventive seizure order of over €7 million, requested by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Palermo. The suspects had obtained funds from the Sicilian Rural Development Programme (PSR Sicilia) to construct a livestock farming complex with an attached slaughterhouse.

On Tuesday, 24 January, the Central Criminal Judge of Spain sentenced two defendants in a simplified procedure in relation to offences of agricultural subsidy fraud and forgery of documents. One of the defendants was convicted of subsidy fraud and forgery of documents, with a suspended term of imprisonment of 6 months and a fine of €4 000.

At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Naples (Italy), the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) of Salerno seized over €160 000 on 26 January, as part of an investigation into possible fraud involving EU agricultural funds.

In an operation code-named ‘Cheap Ink’, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Venice (Italy) today detained 18 suspects, believed to be part of a criminal organisation selling office supplies at cheap prices by fraudulently avoiding VAT payment, with profits estimated at €58 million.

Operation Display took place today in 10 EU Member States (Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Slovenia), within the framework of an investigation into cross-border VAT fraud by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Munich.

The EPPO in Riga is carrying out searches today in the city of Daugavpils (Latvia), including at the Daugavpils  University, in a probe into suspected fraud concerning European Union’s Social Fund, with estimated damages of €600 000.

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

In an investigation into suspected fraud concerning the housing of victims of the 2016 earthquake in Italy, the pre-trial judge of the Court of Teramo, at the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), granted an order for freezing assets of €800 000, which was executed by the Guardia di Finanza (Italian Financial Police).