The European Prosecutor's Office sends 12 defendants for a fraud of millions of euros with IT projects in Romania
Laura Codruta Kovesi EPPO chief, photo: Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP / Profimedia Images
The European Prosecutor's Office of Bucharest (Romania) has submitted, this week, to the Bucharest Court an indictment against 12 defendants (six natural persons and six companies), following an investigation into a fraud worth 9.5 million euros involving IT projects, financed by the EU. Within the same file, checks were made in Cyprus, Czech Republic, Monaco, the United States and Ukraine, informs News.ro.
The European Prosecutor's Office announces on Thursday an investigation in several countries, in a file aimed at a fraud with European funds.
“In this case there are three IT projects for the development of innovative software solutions, financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERD). Based on the evidence gathered during the investigation, during 2019-2022, the beneficiaries of the projects presented to the Romanian Management Authority that supervises the EU FALSE DOCUMENTS, apparently issued by the suppliers, for the purchase of goods and in some services. Cases, the respective documents involved fictitious commercial operations, in order to undue funds of about 9.5 million euros (47,940,498.03 RON) from the EU budget ”, the European Prosecutor's Office said.
The prosecutors specify that the amounts received illegally were then transferred to the bank accounts of the alleged supplier companies, and the international companies were used for purposes that were not related to the projects.
“There have been carried out activities to collect samples in several countries, including Cyprus, Czech Republic and Malta, in accordance with the provisions of Article 31 of the EPPO Regulations, which allow faster cross-border investigations. According to these provisions, EPPO's European delegates may request their colleagues from other participating Member States to take more and more specific measures, Traditional judicial cooperation.
This investigation also benefited from the support of the European Anti -Fraud Office (OLAF).
According to prosecutors, the defendants are accused of fraud or complicity in the use of false documents and money laundering.
If they are guilty, the suspects could receive prison sentences between three and ten years and six months. Companies risk confiscation of assets and a fine of up to 422,000 euros, to which additional sanctions can be added.
