Italian police arrest 22 people in €600m EU fund fraud
Suspects allegedly used front companies to present fictitious projects to win tradable tax credits and defraud the bloc’s Covid recovery funds
04 April 2024 - 21:48
byReuters
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Milan — Italian police said on Thursday they had arrested 22 people and seized assets from homes to watches worth more than €600m as part of an investigation into alleged fraud tied to EU and Italian funding schemes.
Finance police in Venice said they believe a group, which operated in various European countries, sought to defraud the EU’s Covid pandemic recovery fund and generous home improvement schemes introduced by Italy.
Police said they seized flats, villas, Rolex watches, Cartier jewellery, gold, cryptocurrencies and luxury cars such as a Lamborghini and a Porsche, in addition to about €600m worth of illegitimate tax credits for home improvements.
Three people were arrested in Slovakia, two in Austria and 17 across Italy, police said, adding searches were also carried out in Romania.
The investigation will heighten fears that both the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility and Italy’s building schemes are proving a boon for fraudsters.
Italy has so far received almost €102bn from the EU Covid recovery funds, with more than €90bn more expected by 2026.
Simultaneously, the government is paying out billions of euros for the building schemes, including one which offered to pay homeowners 110% of the cost of energy-saving renovations and another which covered as much as 90% of the cost of renovating facades.
Police said the suspects, who were not identified, had devised “sophisticated fraud systems”, using a series of front companies to present fictitious projects and thereby win tradable tax credits from the state.
Once the fraud was completed, the organisation set up a money laundering system, including using cloud servers located in non-cooperative countries and cryptoassets.
The Italian police said they had worked with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which is responsible for investigating and prosecuting crimes against the bloc’s financial interests.
In its annual report published in February, the EPPO said that in 2023 it had 1,927 ongoing investigations, which together involved about €19.2bn of suspected fraud.
About 618 investigations were opened in Italy alone.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Italian police arrest 22 people in €600m EU fund fraud
Suspects allegedly used front companies to present fictitious projects to win tradable tax credits and defraud the bloc’s Covid recovery funds
Milan — Italian police said on Thursday they had arrested 22 people and seized assets from homes to watches worth more than €600m as part of an investigation into alleged fraud tied to EU and Italian funding schemes.
Finance police in Venice said they believe a group, which operated in various European countries, sought to defraud the EU’s Covid pandemic recovery fund and generous home improvement schemes introduced by Italy.
Police said they seized flats, villas, Rolex watches, Cartier jewellery, gold, cryptocurrencies and luxury cars such as a Lamborghini and a Porsche, in addition to about €600m worth of illegitimate tax credits for home improvements.
Three people were arrested in Slovakia, two in Austria and 17 across Italy, police said, adding searches were also carried out in Romania.
The investigation will heighten fears that both the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility and Italy’s building schemes are proving a boon for fraudsters.
Italy has so far received almost €102bn from the EU Covid recovery funds, with more than €90bn more expected by 2026.
Simultaneously, the government is paying out billions of euros for the building schemes, including one which offered to pay homeowners 110% of the cost of energy-saving renovations and another which covered as much as 90% of the cost of renovating facades.
Police said the suspects, who were not identified, had devised “sophisticated fraud systems”, using a series of front companies to present fictitious projects and thereby win tradable tax credits from the state.
Once the fraud was completed, the organisation set up a money laundering system, including using cloud servers located in non-cooperative countries and cryptoassets.
The Italian police said they had worked with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which is responsible for investigating and prosecuting crimes against the bloc’s financial interests.
In its annual report published in February, the EPPO said that in 2023 it had 1,927 ongoing investigations, which together involved about €19.2bn of suspected fraud.
About 618 investigations were opened in Italy alone.
Reuters
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