EPPO

At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Rome (Italy), the Italian State Police (Polizia di Stato) have carried out several house searches, arrests and seizures in the Lazio and Campania regions, in a probe into an alleged criminal association suspected of corruption for the award of projects funded by the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) for Italy. 

Five civil servants, including the mayor, of the municipality of Ceccano are suspected of involvement in a criminal organisation operating a sophisticated corruption scheme. The investigation, code-named ‘The Good Lobby’, revealed that multiple individuals and companies were awarded public contracts, valued at a total of €5 million and financed by the RRF, in exchange for bribes.

Among the different projects, awarded between 2021 and 2023, were earthquake-proofing works at the elementary school of Ceccano, public infrastructure safety improvements in the city and a project on migrant reception and accommodation services within the city.   

It is alleged that a part of the bribe paid by the project beneficiaries was directly transferred to the members of the association, and another part was transferred to shell companies managed by the suspects, who in return issued false invoices.

The Italian State Police (Polizia di Stato) executed precautionary measures against 13 suspects. These measures included the house arrest of ten suspects and three suspects were subjected to restrictive measures, prohibiting them from engaging in business activities or holding managerial positions for one year. 

The judge for preliminary investigations at the Court of Frosinone had issued a freezing order of €500 000, which the Italian State Police (Polizia di Stato) is currently executing.

All persons concerned are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in the competent Italian courts of law.

The Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) of Benevento (Italy) has placed three individuals under house arrest following an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Naples into fraud involving a plant for the production of pellets. 

The three suspects are understood to have received €315 000 as part of an investment programme with a total value of €700 000, partly financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). 

The suspects allegedly made use of a non-operational company based in Czechia to issue false invoices for non-existent activities. The funds were meant to facilitate the purchase of new equipment and machinery, but searches in a company warehouse found no evidence of such acquisitions.

Earlier this year, the Guardia di Finanza froze close to €48 000 in the bank accounts of the suspects and the company, on top of seizing land and other property worth €267 000, in a bid to recover the damage.

All persons concerned are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in the competent Italian courts of law.

At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Milan and Rome (Italy), the judge for preliminary investigations at the Court of Latina issued a freezing order of €28.8 million, in an investigation into a €40 million VAT fraud involving airpods.

The freezing order was issued against two of the perpetrators of the criminal scheme under investigation, previously convicted and sentenced, on 24 July 2024, to six and four years of imprisonment. Both defendants were convicted through a simplified procedure, and are currently placed under house arrest until the sentence becomes final.

During the execution of the freezing order, the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) froze €3.1 million in bank accounts of a company based in Reggio Emilia, which is believed to be the main beneficiary of the fraud. The search for other assets belonging to the two convicted individuals is still ongoing.

Earlier in this investigation, the EPPO had already blocked €1.8 million. In addition, luxury watches had been seized, belonging to the suspected main organiser of the fraud. He is believed to have acted as the manager of a cluster of missing traders located in Terracina, and is currently being tried before the Court of Latina.

This investigation counts more than 50 defendants. Based on the evidence, between 2018 and 2022, at least €200 million worth of airpods were traded through the criminal scheme, while evading the payment of VAT.

At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Palermo (Italy), the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) of Trapani executed a freezing order of €9 million today, in the context of an investigation into fraud involving EU funds, money laundering, and self-laundering. 

The investigation has uncovered a fraudulent scheme involving local politicians and individuals from Sicily linked to a private training centre. The suspects allegedly misused more than €8.7 million from the European Social Fund (ESF) intended for vocational training and social projects. 

It is believed that the funds were channelled through training programmes, some of which were unnecessary or not delivered, and were instead diverted for personal expenses and to support political campaigns. Moreover, it is alleged that six local politicians and their relatives were promised jobs and promotions at the implicated training centres, in exchange for supporting the political movement of the key suspects. 

The scheme was allegedly orchestrated by a former senator and regional politician, with the assistance of several accomplices. Part of the funds, amounting to approximately €800 000, had already been used for personal and political purposes, while the rest of the €8.7 million was expected to be disbursed soon. With the freezing order, the additional disbursement will be prevented.

In addition to the freezing order, the Palermo Court's judge for preliminary investigations issued prohibitive measures against five suspects, who are prohibited from participating in subsidy procedures for a period of 12 months. Four out of these five suspects have also been put under house arrest today in a connected investigation led by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Marsala (Italy). 

All persons concerned are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in the competent Italian courts of law.

At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Milan (Italy), the Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) of Milan have carried out searches in the offices of a consultant suspected of procurement fraud.

The suspect successfully applied, either individually or as part of a consortium, for 18 projects financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) between 2019 and 2023. The projects were set up to provide consulting services to the Region of Lombardy on how to effectively use EU funds. The services included technical assistance, access to tools and carrying out trainings.

It is alleged that the same team of consultants was repeatedly proposed in multiple tenders, leading to an overlap of assignments. Consequently, the amount of working hours (so-called ´man-days´) exceeded what could actually be accomplished within a month. 

The investigation revealed anomalies in 12 out of 18 tenders awarded. The total value of the projects is more than €10 million.

All persons concerned are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in the competent Italian courts of law.