The European Public Prosecutor’s Office in Iași, northeast (Romania carried out 25 house searches in Focșani and Vrancea county, as part of a probe into suspected fraud related to an EU-funded project to support the business plans of disadvantaged young people.

Eight individuals have been brought to the EPPO’s office in Iași to be informed of their status as suspects. 

According to the evidence, the suspects controlled a network of ten companies set up in the names of disadvantaged young people in order to fraudulently obtain European subsidies. Ten young people, between 16 and 29 years old, with precarious living conditions and low level of schooling were identified and coordinated to attend entrepreneurial courses and formally establish companies. These companies then signed subsidy contracts with a project partner, a large company from Focșani, while the young founders were largely unaware of the purely formal nature of the businesses.

To create an appearance of legality, false documents were drafted to show economic activities that never took place, including fictitious employee payments, sham purchases, and fake rental agreements, enabling the group to improperly access the European funds.

As part of the ongoing investigation, twenty-five house searches were carried out in Focșani City and within Vrancea County. Ten properties, including houses and plots of land, worth approximately €300, 000 were seized, and the bank accounts of the ten suspects were frozen. 

The investigation, supported by the EPPO Support Structure in Romania, the Economic Crime Investigation Service with the Vrancea County Police Inspectorate, and the County Gendarmerie Inspectorate Vrancea, says that a group of individuals has been involved in an alleged fraud scheme related to a €250,000 project financed by non-reimbursable EU funds from the Human Capital Operational Program, supporting business plans for newly established companies by disadvantaged young people.

All persons involved are presumed innocent until proven guilty before the competent Romanian courts. 

The EPPO is the independent public prosecution office of the European Union. It is responsible for investigating, prosecuting, and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU.