Romania accounts for 10% of EPPO fraud cases: €6 billion in damages
Ten per cent of the 3,600 cases investigated by the European Public Prosecutor's Office involve fraud committed in Romania, with total damages estimated at €6 billion.
Romania at the top of European fund fraud cases investigated by EPPO
Ten per cent of the cases under investigation at the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) concern fraud committed in Romania, with estimated damages of €6 billion, according to Cotidianul.ro on the basis of an interview granted by European prosecutor Cătălin Borcoman to the publication Libertatea.
The calculation is based on data from the latest EPPO report for 2025: in total, 3,600 active cases, for cumulative fraud of €67 billion across all participating member states. The 360 cases relating to Romania represent, according to prosecutor Borcoman, damages of €6 billion.
Regional development and agriculture, the main sources of fraud
"The bulk of cases" from Romania are concentrated in the area of regional and urban development, Borcoman stated. Second place in the ranking of areas is occupied by agricultural fraud — subsidies for the modernisation of agricultural activities through new irrigation systems and the purchase of machinery.
The EPPO report also indicates that at the end of 2025, 500 cases concerning fraud from the Recovery and Resilience Plan funds were under investigation across all participating member states.
Reed from the Danube Delta and school minibuses, cases under investigation
Prosecutor Borcoman revealed that two specific cases are under criminal investigation: one concerns the harvesting of reed from the Danube Delta, the other concerns the purchase of school minibuses from European funds.
"In the first, there is criminal investigation and I do not wish to make, and nor can I at this moment, any further comments. In the second, an entire series of investigations has been carried out, including searches," Borcoman stated.
The prosecutor added that there are no suspects identified at this moment, however "charges will probably be brought to the attention in the coming months".
Military procurement and Chinese mafia from Constanța Port
EPPO has also begun reviewing military purchases financed from European funds, carried out by several member states, including Romania. The European Public Prosecutor's Office is also investigating the ramifications of the Chinese mafia from Constanța Port, Borcoman further specified.
VAT fraud represents another significant category, with some cases exceeding the €10 million threshold.
Who is prosecutor Borcoman
Cătălin-Laurențiu Borcoman has been Romania's European prosecutor at EPPO since July 2020, an institution headed by Laura Codruța Kövesi. His mandate is for six years.
He entered the judiciary in 1997 at the Office of the Prosecutor attached to the Brașov Court. From 2006 he worked at DIICOT Brașov, specialising in organised crime. In 2007 he was an adviser to the general prosecutor Laura Codruța Kövesi, and between 2009 and 2010 he held the position of deputy chief prosecutor of DIICOT. He headed DIICOT Brașov between 2012 and 2018.
At EPPO, Borcoman represents Romania in the central structure of the institution which investigates offences affecting the financial interests of the European Union — fraud with European funds, cross-border VAT fraud and related money-laundering cases.
Source: Cotidianul.ro