In the context of an international large-scale investigation led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Venice (Italy), dozens of searches and seizures took place, and 22 arrests were made today in Italy, Austria, Romania and Slovakia, in a probe into an alleged criminal organisation suspected of defrauding €600 million from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) for Italy.
In Italy, the Financial Police (Nucleo di Polizia Economico Finanziaria – Guardia di Finanza) from Venice executed an order for freezing issued by the pre-trial judge on assets worth, in total, over €600 million. With the support of law enforcement agencies from the other Member States involved, 22 individuals have been arrested in Italy, Austria, Romania and Slovakia. Eight suspects have been placed under pre-trial detention, whereas other 14 suspects are held under house arrest, and one accountant was prohibited from practising his profession. The premises of the suspects and of the investigated companies have also been the target of searches and seizure of evidence.
On the radar of the EPPO is a criminal association suspected of orchestrating, between 2021 and 2023, a fraud scheme to obtain funds from the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), part of the RRF, the main pillar of the NextGenerationEU recovery plan.
