Police arrest 22 over big EU-fund fraud

(ANSA) - ROME, APR 4 - Venice finance police on Thursday executed warrants issued by the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) to arrest 22 people over an huge fraud of EU money for Italy's National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNNR).
    Eight of the suspects were taken to jail while the other 14 were put under house arrest.
    Two other suspects were banned from doing professional and commercial activities.
    Furthermore, over 150 police officers were involved in searches and operations to seize more than 600 million euros in assets in Veneto, Lombardy, Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Tuscany, Lazio, Campania and Puglia.
    Police in Slovakia, Romanian and Austria were also involved in the operations.
    The criminal network allegedly pocketed funding for projects they had no intention of carrying out and used fake companies set up abroad, especially in Slovakia, Romanian and Austria, to launder the money.
    The Venice finance police managed to find out about the scam thanks to around 100 reports of suspect operations.
    "We take note of the announcements of the Italian authorities and the EPPO and we do not have any specific comment to make about the case," said European Commission spokesperson Lea Zuber when asked about the arrests.
    "The NRRP contains a very solid framework of controls that is based on the member States' national control systems". (ANSA).