The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Timisoara (Romania) arrested three suspects yesterday, including two public officials, in an investigation into a criminal scheme that obtained €2.2 million in EU funds for pastures, https://www.eppo.europa.eu/ informs. One of the individuals detained is a sheep breeder who owns a large estate in Romania. According to the investigation, he set up a criminal scheme to obtain EU subsidies for pastures that were ineligible for funds, using public officials from Romania’s paying agency to facilitate the process. Based on the evidence, between 2018 and 2023, the sheep breeder used employees to identify pastures which he did not own and to lease them in the name of his parents and of a commercial company controlled by him, in order to fraudulently obtain EU funds. It is understood that public officials from Romania’s Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture (APIA) – Hunedoara County Centre colluded in the scheme. According to the investigation, the sheep breeder submitted requests for subsidies regarding land that he did not own, or requested support to larger areas than the ones submitted. In addition, he is alleged to have submitted requests for forested areas that are not eligible for support, by enlisting the help of public officials from the APIA. In this manner, the suspect obtained approximately €2.2 million (RON 11 211 935.22) in agricultural EU funds. An additional request for approximately €1.6 million (RON 8 293 626 ) was submitted to the APIA, but the funds were not disbursed, thanks to the timely investigation of the EPPO. The European Delegated Prosecutor in charge of the investigation ordered the detention of the three suspects for 24 hours, and he will request their preventive arrest. In addition, eight more individuals were charged, including another five public officials. In order to compensate the damage to the EU budget, a freezing order was issued. The investigative measures counted on the support of the Anticorruption General Directorate - County Anticorruption Service Timis (Directia Generala Anticoruptie – Serviciul Judetean Anticoruptie Timis) and the Arad County Police Inspectorate - Economic Crimes Investigation Service (Inspectoratul de Politie Judetean Arad – Serviciul de Investigare a Criminalitatii Economice). The investigation is ongoing, in order to ascertain the extent of the suspected criminal activities. All persons involved are presumed innocent until proven guilty by the competent Romanian courts of law.
The number of people in Romania at risk of poverty stood at 3.59 million people in 2024, 375,000 fewer than in 2023, representing a 9.4% decrease, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics, or INS. Despite the improvement, nearly one in five Romanians was affected by poverty last year. According to INS, 19% […]
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Border checks between Bulgaria and Romania have officially been lifted on July 1, as part of the implementation of the Schengen Agreement. The lifting marks the end of the transitional period of heightened control at the internal border, which had remained in place for six months following their accession to the Schengen area by land […]
Remus Vulpescu became CEO of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) on Tuesday, July 1, taking over from Adrian Tănase as the stock exchange grapples with a market dominated by government bonds. Vulpescu, 53, is a graduate in political and legal sciences from the University of Bucharest and holder of an EMBA obtained in 2017. He […]
