Five Romanians sent to trial by EPPO for €1.8 million fraud involving EU anti-poverty funds
The European Public Prosecutor's Office has filed an indictment at Bucharest Tribunal against five defendants accused of defrauding EU funds intended to combat poverty. The estimated damage is €1.8 million.
EPPO sends criminal group to trial for plundering EU programmes for vulnerable persons
The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), headed by Codruta Kovesi, filed an indictment on Wednesday at Bucharest Tribunal against five people accused of defrauding €1.8 million from European funds intended to combat poverty, according to Gândul. The defendants are suspected of forming a criminal group active between 2017 and 2022, which manipulated public procurement procedures in localities in Dolj County, in the Oltenia region.
Two of the five are suspected of leading the criminal group. They identified EU-financed programmes, approached local authorities in rural areas and persuaded them to submit funding applications. Subsequently, they drew up documentation for these applications and for the subsequent procurement procedures.
The other three members of the group received information about tenders from the leaders and used multiple commercial companies to participate in these procedures. Evidence indicates that they obtained contracts through false documents, intended to certify that eligibility criteria had been met.
The frauds targeted seven programmes financed through the Operational Programme Human Capital, Priority Axis 4 – Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction, which benefited seven rural localities. The programmes aimed to provide food to people living in poverty, as well as to organise workshops and training sessions for marginalised communities in rural areas.
In total, 22 procurement procedures carried out within these programmes are considered fraudulent, and the estimated damage amounts to €1.8 million — equivalent to 9.5 million lei.
At an earlier stage of the investigation, authorities seized goods belonging to the suspects valued at the same amount. If found guilty, the defendants risk prison sentences ranging from three years to ten years and six months.
Source: Gândul