May 7 (Reuters) – The European Public Prosecutor’s Office said on Thursday it had arrested 21 Croatians, including an acting and a former public official, in a probe into possible corruption and fraud involving European Union farm subsidies.
The head and a former expert adviser of a payment agency of agricultural funds in one of Croatia’s counties were among those arrested on May 6 in coordination with local police and Croatian tax administration authorities for suspected “abuse of office and authority and receiving bribes”, the EPPO said in a statement.
The EPPO, which began operations in 2021, is the EU’s independent public prosecution office tasked with investigating and bringing to judgment crimes against the bloc’s financial interests. It first announced the investigation into the alleged Croatian corruption on Wednesday.
The acting public official under arrest is suspected of coordinating with farmers to help prepare, submit and secure applications for EU farm subsidies under potentially irregular circumstances, in exchange for illicit financial benefits, the EPPO said on Thursday.
It added that a former expert adviser was suspected of having set up a criminal gang with two other suspects to help farmers obtain farm subsidies by inflating the value of pastureland and falsifying documents in return for financial rewards since 2020.
Croatia’s interior ministry confirmed on Thursday that police had investigated 21 persons over suspected organised fraud, abuse of position and corruption after it found irregularities in the allocation of EU farm aid.
“Upon completion of the criminal investigation, the suspects were remanded in custody while criminal charges were filed with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office against a total of 21 persons,” the interior ministry said in a statement.
The arrests followed a scandal in Greece over suspected fraud similarly related to EU farm subsidies that has shaken the centre-right government in recent months.
(Reporting by Angeliki KoutantouEditing by Gareth Jones and Paul Simao)
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