EPPO conducts searches in Romania in connection with workforce employment fraud

The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) in Romania recently conducted searches in 17 locations, including public institutions, as part of an investigation into a EUR 1.6 mln fraud related to European and national funds intended for promoting workforce employment.

The searches took place at the residences of some officials and in six public institutions, four of which are located in Bacău county and two in Neamț county. Eleven individuals will be brought to the EPPO headquarters in Iași for questioning, as announced by the European Public Prosecutor's Office in a press release cited by G4Media.

The officials are suspected of supporting an organized criminal group under investigation by accepting the submission of falsified documents, issuing false documents, and coordinating the formal preparation of files to justify payments from European funds.

Searches were also conducted earlier this year on February 15, 2023. According to the investigation, the organized crime group set up seven fictitious companies to fraudulently obtain national and EU subsidies intended to help unemployed individuals improve their skills and employment prospects. According to investigators, the suspects hired 197 individuals under false pretenses, thereby defrauding the EU budget and Romania's national budget with a total of EUR 1.67 mln (85% from the EU budget and 15% from Romania's national budget).

The home searches mobilized dozens of police officers from the Bacău Organized Crime Combat Brigade, as well as the Special Operations Brigade and the Romanian Gendarmerie - Bacău Mobile Gendarmerie Group. All persons involved are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the competent courts of Romania.

EPPO is the independent public prosecutor's office of the European Union. It is responsible for investigating, prosecuting, and bringing to trial offenses against the financial interests of the EU.

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