Authorities have arrested 20 people in Italy, Austria, Romania and Slovakia as part of a major investigation into massive fraud linked to the European recovery fund (RRF).
As reported by ot.gr, from the operations in Italy, in which 150 officers of the fraud units and the financial police participated, another 14 people were placed under house arrest and while the cross-border investigation continues.
Police, POLITICO reports, also raided homes and businesses, seizing and impounding assets including apartments and villas, cryptocurrency, Rolex watches, gold and jewelry, as well as a Lamborghini, a Porsche and an Audi Q8.
Italy is the biggest beneficiary of the EU’s post-crisis recovery fund, with €191.5bn in grants and loans, while Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government is under pressure to meet fund deadlines, which are for the costs and completion of the projects.
Applications and projects for … digitization
According to the police, the alleged fraud was carried out by a criminal organization that included professionals experienced in applying for public funding, who helped secure cash for projects worth tens of millions of euros intended to improve the competitiveness and digitization of Italian companies.
The financial police reconstructed the suspicious transactions and identified “the legalization of huge illegal profits carried out through a complex network of shell companies cleverly created in Italy, Austria, Slovakia and Romania,” Italy’s financial police said in a statement.
Over the past decade, crime syndicates have become increasingly adept at siphoning off funds distributed by the EU for development and reconstruction. Criminal organizations have diversified away from traditional sources of income such as extortion and robbery in favor of pocketing EU subsidies that provide a more lucrative and reliable income stream.
Thursday’s operations are taking place across Europe involving the police forces of Slovakia, Romania and Austria, as well as the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO).
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