EU’s EPPO opened 215 cases with damages totaling EUR 1.87 bln in Romania in 2023

The European Public Prosecutor's Office, or EPPO, an institution specializing in cases of fraud involving European funds, opened 215 cases in Romania last year.

The total estimated damage in the over 200 cases was EUR 1.87 billion, according to the official report cited by G4Media.

In total, the EPPO, headed by Laura Codruța Kövesi, the former chief prosecutor of Romania's National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), has 260 active investigations in Romania, with total damages of nearly EUR 2 billion. A total of 29 individuals have already been charged in Romania in cases made by the EPPO, and in 7 cases, the accused admitted their guilt.

European prosecutors received 331 reports from national prosecutors, 20 from individuals/companies, and 15 from various European institutions, among others. Most recently, the EPPO reportedly requested documents from Romanian state institutions about how two companies close to the Social Democrat (PSD) politician Paul Stănescu came to request European subsidies of almost EUR 6 million for reeds in the Danube Delta.

The EPPO has already registered 7 final convictions in Romania and has no acquittals. The majority of the cases concern fraud with funds intended for regional development, followed by fraud with agricultural projects and the PNRR funds.

(Photo source: Senator Joanna | Dreamstime.com)