EUROPEAN PUBLIC PROSECUTOR's OFFICE,ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΥΝΗ,update

 

18/12/2025   European Public Prosecutor's Office News

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Romania: EPPO indicts five individuals and three companies for €850 000 fraud involving irrigation systems (Luxembourg, 18 December 2025) – The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Iași (Romania) has filed an indictment against five individuals, including a public official, and three companies for fraud involving a €850 000 project for modernising irrigation systems, funded by the EU. The indictment concerns an agricultural cooperative that obtained approximately €850 000 (RON 4.3 million) in EU funding for a project to modernise irrigation systems. The main defendant, the cooperative’s de facto president, together with its statutory president, is accused of misleading Romania’s Agency for Financing Rural Investments (AFIR) by submitting false documents stating that the cooperative had a board of directors and that a general assembly had approved the funding application, as well as the project’s conditions and technical parameters. The investigation established that the cooperative did not legally exist, had no board of directors, and did not convene a general assembly to approve the application for funds. In addition, based on the evidence, the public procurement procedure for selecting the company to implement the project was manipulated in order to benefit a pre-determined company owned by one of the defendants and formally administered by his wife. It is understood that a significant portion of the funds was laundered through transfers to one of the main defendant’s companies, allegedly disguised as the reimbursement of a loan. A public official holding a management position at a regional office of AFIR is also accused of facilitating the illegal acquisition of EU funds between 2018 and 2023, by approving fraudulent payment requests and by disclosing confidential information. In return, the official is accused of receiving material benefits, and has been charged with corruption and complicity in subsidy fraud.   more

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Italy: EPPO seizes clandestine cigarette factory and 46 tonnes of tobacco and cigarettes (Luxembourg, 18 December 2025) – The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Palermo (Italy) has dealt a blow to the illicit manufacture of smuggled tobacco products. At the EPPO’s request, the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) of Palermo, Rome and Frosinone seized a large-scale industrial plant for the manufacture of cigarettes, equipped with all the necessary machinery to operate two high-capacity production lines, as well as a separate facility used for storing materials and finished products, located in Pomezia and Ferentino. The facilities are valued at over €2 million and have the capacity to produce 4 million cigarettes per day. Inside the plant, with an area of 4 000 square meters, the police found and seized 27 tonnes of cigarettes, 19 tonnes of tobacco and 134 pallets of materials, including items for packaging cigarette bearing the logos of well-known brands. Four articulated lorries used for transportation were also seized. Seven individuals of Ukrainian and Bulgarian nationality were referred to the judicial authorities for possession of tobacco smuggling products and trademark counterfeiting. Locating the facilities proved particularly challenging, due to the measures taken by the suspects to conceal the storage and production sites. The suspects also used jammers and frequency detectors to disrupt communications and avoid detection by the police. It is estimated that these facilities were able to generate products worth €700 000 per day, or €240 million per year, causing a damage of €160 million in unpaid tax and excise duties.   more