European Prosecutor Office charges five Romanians with EU procurement fraud scheme

The European Public Prosecutor Office (EPPO) submitted an indictment to the Bucharest Tribunal accusing five individuals of forming a criminal group to defraud EU-sponsored public procurement between 2017 and 2022. Two alleged leaders targeted EU-funded programmes, contacted rural municipalities in Dolj, and convinced them to request financing. They drafted the funding applications and subsequent tender documentation, passing the information to the remaining three members.

Those three allegedly created multiple commercial entities to submit false eligibility documents and secure contracts. The alleged fraud covered 22 procurement procedures under seven programmes of the Operational Programme Human Capital, Priority Axis 4 - Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction, benefiting seven villages. Authorities have seized assets belonging to the suspects, and convictions could bring prison terms ranging from three years to ten years and six months.