Ooni Koda
  1. Home
  2. /
  3. Newsfeed
  4. /
  5. Romania: EPPO charges five for aggravated subsidy fraud...

Romania: EPPO charges five for aggravated subsidy fraud involving pig-breeding farm

August 15, 2024

  The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Timi?oara (Romania) has accused five individuals of aggravated subsidy fraud, forgery of private documents and intellectual forgery, with an estimated damage of €667 000.   At issue is a project to establish a pig-breeding farm in the town of Corabia, Olt County, financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). According to the investigation, the beneficiary of the funds, with the support of the equipment supplier and the project consultant, submitted false documents for goods that were bought at a lower price and were of another nature or quantity than those requested from the EAFRD, thus unduly obtaining funds from the EU budget of €667 000.   It is also understood that two employees of Romania’s Agency for Financing Rural Investments (AFIR), in the exercise of their duties, falsely mentioned that they had conducted accurate on-the-spot checks of the equipment that had been requested by the beneficiary.   As a result of the EPPO’s proactive measures, an additional amount of approximately €500 000 was prevented from being unduly obtained from the EU budget. The investigation counted on the support of Romania’s Anti-Corruption General Directorate (Directia Generala Anticoruptie – Serviciile Judetene Anticoruptie Timis si Mehedinti), Timis County Police Inspectorate – Lugoj Municipal Police (Inspectoratul de Politie Judetean Timi? – Poli?ia Municipiului Lugoj-Sec?ia 5 Poli?ie Belin?) and Special Operations Brigade Timisoara (Directia de Operatiuni Speciale – Brigada de Operatiuni Speciale Timisoara).   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.? (Source:https://www.eppo.europa.eu/)  

Read in full - click here
Film review – Gazing into the Past: Il Cinema Ritrovato & TIFF

June is the richest month. The most awaited two weeks in my annual festival pilgrimage. The route starts with Romania’s Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF), followed by Italy’s (and the world’s) most comprehensive festival for restored and archival film: Il Cinema Ritrovato. To shake up the traditional article on the two, I’ll start with the […]

Different Beauty: Portraits from Donbas in David Těšínský’s Bucharest exhibition

Different Beauty, a recently opened exhibition of works by Czech photographer David Těšínský, offers a glimpse into everyday life in the war-torn region of Donbas in 2017. The photos were taken within the span of only a few days, as Těšínský traveled to eastern Ukraine to document the lives of women impacted by war. In […]

Different Beauty: Images from Donbas in David Těšínský’s Bucharest exhibition

Different Beauty, a recently opened exhibition of works by Czech photographer David Těšínský, offers a glimpse into everyday life in the war-torn region of Donbas in 2017. The photos were taken within the span of only a few days, as Těšínský traveled to eastern Ukraine to document the lives of women impacted by war. In […]

Most Romanians do not trust AI without human intervention, survey shows

Roughly 70% of Romanians are “very” or “moderately” concerned about how AI accesses and uses their data, according to the latest survey conducted by RoCoach in partnership with Novel Research between May and June 2025.  Distrust in automated decision-making and the demand for regulation are becoming more pronounced, as Romania rolls out major digitalization projects […]

Armenian Street Festival to take place at Bucharest’s Botanical Garden in August

The Armenian Street Festival returns for a 9th edition between August 1 and 3, 2025, in the “Dimitrie Brândză” Botanical Garden in Bucharest. The festival brings into focus the living heritage of the Armenian community in Romania and the diaspora. According to the organizers, this year’s edition aims to strengthen the Bucharest–Chișinău–Yerevan cultural axis, articulated […]

M&A market in Romania registered transactions worth EUR 2.7 bln in first half of 2025

The Romanian mergers and acquisitions market registered a total of 122 announced transactions in the first half of 2025, with a value exceeding EUR 2.7 billion, marking a slight increase of 6% in volume and 4% in value compared to the same period last year, according to an analysis by George Ureche, partner at PwC Romania. […]