(Luxembourg, 24 January 2025) – The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Bucharest (Romania) has filed an indictment against two defendants – an individual and one company – for fraud and forgery related to two agricultural projects in Giurgiu County, financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), with a total value of over €2.1 million.
The investigation revealed that the defendants allegedly submitted falsified and inaccurate documents during procurement procedures and when submitting payment claims for both projects. These projects involved the construction of greenhouses, including one for strawberry cultivation.
In the project to build a greenhouse for strawberries, implemented between 2018 and 2021, the defendants are suspected of submitting over 130 falsified documents, resulting in the misappropriation of approximately €500 600 (RON 2,721,611), mostly from the EU budget.
In the project to construct another greenhouse, implemented between 2019 and 2022, the defendants allegedly used over 110 falsified documents to obtain approximately €1.6 million (RON 8,944,316), again primarily from the EU budget.
To recover the damage caused, precautionary measures have been imposed, including the seizure of bank accounts, cars and real estate worth over €1.2 million in total.
The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the competent Romanian courts of law.
The EPPO is the independent public prosecution office of the European Union. It is responsible for investigating, prosecuting, and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU.