The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Iași (Romania) brought charges today against six individuals and six companies for aggravated fraud and money laundering, in an investigation into a suspected criminal organisation that obtained €4 million in EU funds for medical and IT research.
The case concerns two projects to purchase medical and IT equipment and software licences, financed up to 70% by the EU. One of the projects aimed at establishing a research department for the treatment of neuro-motor diseases, and the other to develop innovative software programs for combating the illegal trafficking of goods.
According to the EU financing contracts, the beneficiaries had to provide proof of payment of their private contribution, amounting to 30% of the value of each invoice issued by the suppliers of the equipment, and only afterwards were they entitled to obtain the payment of the remaining 70%. However, according to the investigation, the suspects simulated the procedure for granting the acquisition contracts for the necessary equipment, in order to award them to a company under their control, which did not have the capacity or resources to purchase it. In addition, the suspects are believed to have used another company under their control to produce invoices with significantly inflated prices (approximately three times the real price). It is alleged that, in order to certify the payment of their private contribution, the suspects set up simulated circuits of payment for each invoice, depositing cash into the accounts of the beneficiaries, transferring the payment of the equipment to the accounts of the supplier under their control and later withdrawing it in cash for their own benefit.
