Embezzlement of CAP funds leads to 12 arrests in Campania

Brussels –Twelve arrests and seizure of assets worth more than 9.6 million euros: this is the outcome of the operation conducted by the Caserta Financial Police at the request of the Office of the European Prosecution Office (EPPO) following an investigation launched into alleged fraud against the European Union budget. According to investigators, a true criminal network was allegedly set up in Campania to intercept EU funds. A total of 67 people are under investigation, and 27 companies have ended up at the center of the inquiry, all accused of fraudulently obtaining EU agricultural funds provided by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

According to the investigation, between 2018 and 2022, the criminal association unlawfully secured more than 12.5 million euros by presenting one of its companies, based in Salerno, as a so-called Producers’ Organization (PO), which is a recognized group of farmers, entitled to receive EU funding to support collective investments for the benefit of its members. However, it was a fake company. EPPO notes evidence suggests that the suspects “falsified several documents to fraudulently misrepresent the company’s compliance with the essential requirements of POs status under EU law.”

It is through this way of operating that the fictitious company did its business, unduly receiving EU agricultural subsidies funded under the CAP, and thus deceiving not only the European Union but also the Campania Region and the Agricultural Payments Agency (AGEA), all of whom are injured parties.