Recovery Fund fraud: 3.3 million seized in Italy

Brussels – Alleged participation in a criminal organization, aggravated fraud against the Italian State, accounting and tax fraud, and fraud against the EU budget: all this is at the center of the operation conducted in Italy by the Guardia di Finanza in Biella at the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Turin, which led to the seizure of EUR 3.3 million, a sum corresponding to the proceeds of illegal activities. Thirty-five individuals and sixteen companies are under investigation for suspected participation in a criminal organization, which appears to be a well-structured network. 

The investigators point out that all those at the center of the investigation allegedly defrauded public budgets by “fraudulently” obtaining Recovery funds, claiming tax credits for fictitious energy efficiency work. More specifically, the suspects, tax advisors, and accounting service centers operating across Italy set up companies in the names of strawmen, falsifying the companies’ accounts to access public financing and fiscal incentives.

During the searches, 18 warrants were executed at locations in the provinces of Arezzo, Empoli, Fermo, Florence, Bologna, Pesaro, Perugia, Prato, Rome, Turin, Verona, and Vicenza to secure evidence, including tax documents and contracts. An extensive operation therefore took place in seven different regions (Tuscany, Lazio, Marche, Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, Umbria and Veneto). Funds held in Italian bank accounts of four suspects were seized, totaling up to EUR 3,385,986. Law enforcement agencies say that other assets, such as real estate and vehicles, “will be seized to recover the equivalent amount” of what was illegally taken, should the course of the investigation prove it necessary.

There have already been investigations and operations in Italy regarding fraud against the EU budget, explicitly targeting the Recovery Fund. So, it is not the first time fraud emerged in this area. In April last year, fraud against the National Recovery and Resiliency Plan (NRRP), which was financed precisely with the Recovery Fund, amounting to EUR 600 million, was discovered.