EPPO Report: We are in third place in the top of fraud of European money

• The European Public Prosecutor's Office opened 251 of the 380 active investigations in our country last year • The total estimated damage in the 251 cases is 2.3 billion euros, out of a total damage of 13.07 billion euros at the EU level regarding the investigations opened in 2024 • Most European frauds recorded in our country concern the funding allocated for regional and urban development, agriculture and rural development and social cohesion, inclusion and jobs

According to the activity report for 2024 published yesterday by the European Public Prosecutor's Office, our country is in third place, in the Top 4 of European states that have defrauded the EU budget. The first place is occupied by Italy, where European prosecutors found fraud worth a total of 3.48 billion euros, followed by Germany with fraud worth 2.74 billion euros, Romania - 2.3 billion euros and Greece - 1.3 billion euros.

According to the European Public Prosecutor's Office, last year 251 (out of a total of 380 active) investigations were launched in our country, precautionary measures were issued for assets worth over 45 million euros, assets worth over 11 million euros were seized, illegally acquired assets were confiscated, including real estate and luxury cars, many of the actions were carried out with the support of authorities from other states to combat cross-border fraud (29 investigations opened last year). As a result of the investigations, 18 people were indicted in 2024 and 11 people were convicted.

The EPPO report shows that fraud against the European budget in our country took a multitude of forms. The first concerned the fraud of allocations from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). A large-scale case discovered by European prosecutors involved a network of fictitious companies that applied for financing intended for digitalization and innovation. These companies presented false balance sheets to demonstrate profitability, but, in reality, had no economic activity. The funds obtained through this fraudulent mechanism were quickly transferred between bank accounts in Romania, Austria and Slovakia, and were subsequently laundered through real estate purchases and cryptocurrency transactions.

The European Prosecutor's Office also shows that in our country, fraud of EU money is also done through arranged public procurements (28.62% of all investigations in our country), in which contracts financed from European funds were awarded to companies controlled by influential people in the public sector. Thus, European prosecutors discovered overvalued contracts for infrastructure works, including for the modernization of roads and the development of energy networks. Following the investigations, several civil servants and businessmen were accused of conflict of interest and bribery for the award of contracts; these are 44 corruption cases investigated by the EPPO.

Another area of fraud against the European budget by criminal groups in our country is represented by VAT (over 15% of all investigations opened in Romania) and money laundering (46 of all investigation files opened last year). EPPO prosecutors say that they have discovered that our country is part of a European VAT fraud network, where goods were fictitiously traded in order to obtain illegal VAT refunds. This is a complex tax evasion scheme in which, in order to conceal the real transactions, offshore companies were mostly involved.

The areas with the greatest attraction for criminal groups in our country to defraud European money are: local development programs (regional and urban) - 136 investigations by the EPPO, agriculture and rural development programs - 67 investigations and social cohesion, inclusion and employment programs - 58 investigations.

At the end of 2024, the EPPO had a total of 2,666 active investigations (a 38% increase compared to the previous year), with an estimated damage to the EU budget of 24.8 billion euros (22.5% more than in 2023). More than half of the estimated damage (13.15 billion euros) is related to cross-border VAT fraud, with the almost systematic involvement of criminal organizations, presenting a major risk to internal security.

More than 1,500 new investigations were opened in 2024 (almost 10% more than the previous year), representing euro13.07 billion in estimated damage. By the end of last year, the EPPO was handling 311 active investigations related to NextGenerationEU funding, the majority (307) of which came from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The estimated damage to the EU's financial interests amounts to euro2.8 billion, which represents 30% of the total estimated damage for grant fraud. European prosecutors expect the damage to increase, in the context of the accelerated implementation of NextGenerationEU funding.

Also last year, the European Public Prosecutor's Office froze assets worth 849 million euros, which represents 11 times the budget of the institution in 2024.