EU structural funds fraud, 39 investigated in Italy

Brussels – A total of 39 suspects, seizure of assets worth over one million euro, plus confiscation of computers and mobile phones: this is the result of the operation launched in Salerno on behalf of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), and which led to the dismantling of a criminal network accused of illegally obtaining European resources from EU structural funds, specifically from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). 

The investigation, conducted between 2022 and 2024, revealed the existence of a criminal association that, according to the findings, operated with the aid of public officials of the Campania Region. The criminal group was further aided by the assistance of accountants, and, according to Eppo, by “a member of the Guardia di Finanza (Finance Police) at the service of the criminal gang, responsible for reporting any investigations into the fraud and misleading investigators.”

Civil servants would have played a key role in this criminal scheme: the suspects would have requested EAFRD funds using false information, allegedly in collusion with officials of the Campania Region, who would then have facilitated the illicit acquisition of EU structural funds. A corruption investigation is therefore underway, in parallel with the operation for fraud against the European budget, in that public officials were allegedly promised a percentage of the funds.