European Public Prosecutor’s Office EPPO seizes €2 million in Italy fraud case involving NRRP funds

Brussels – At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Turin, the Biella Finance Police seized assets worth €1.98 million as part of an investigation into suspected fraud involving funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) allocated to Italy. 

The investigation, under the code name Nuovi Orizzonti (New Horizons), concerns an alleged organised criminal group that defrauded public finances by obtaining NRRP funds and claiming tax credits for fictitious energy-efficiency measures. According to the investigation, the suspects, tax advisors, and accounting service centres operating throughout Italy allegedly set up companies under fictitious names and falsified the companies’ accounts to demonstrate non-existent financial soundness and to access almost €2 million in public funding and tax incentives, including €125,000 from the NRRP for Italy. 

Last week, the Biella Financial Police, supported by colleagues from Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Tuscany, Basilicata, and Calabria, executed a preventive seizure order for up to €1.98 million in assets, issued by the Court of Biella. The frozen assets, belonging to 12 individuals, include bank account balances, three properties, two luxury cars, and shares in three companies. This seizure is the second in this ongoing investigation, as previously reported in  July 2025, when searches and seizures totalling €3.3 million took place. During the searches, 18 warrants were executed in locations in the provinces of Arezzo, Empoli, Fermo, Florence, Bologna, Pesaro, Perugia, Prato, Rome, Turin, Verona and Vicenza to obtain evidence, including tax documents and contracts.