Laura Koveshi investigates officials and a mayor in Bulgaria suspected of defrauding the EU budget.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office secured a seizure of property within the framework of an investigation into a project worth 2.6 million euros, involving activities on the water supply network of a municipality in Bulgaria, financed by the EU.
Officials and a mayor suspected of defrauding the EU budget are being investigated, informed the institution headed by Laura Köveshi.
At the request of the prosecution, the Sofia Court of Appeal imposed temporary measures, including the seizure of real estate and vehicles belonging to the investigated suspects. Seven buildings with a total area of 1,956 square meters, as well as three vehicles, were seized to compensate for the alleged damage to the EU budget.
Köveshi's office revealed, without announcing which municipality, that it is a project for the reconstruction of the water supply network and the water reservoir of a municipality in Bulgaria, financed by the Bulgarian State Fund "Agriculture" (DFZ) under the Program for the Development of Rural Areas of the EU worth EUR 2.6 million (BGN 5.2 million).
The investigation revealed evidence of fraud in the performance of the contract awarded to private companies. Civil servants from the DFZ are suspected of entering into fraudulent agreements with the mayor and these companies to inflate the price of construction works and inflate the costs of the paying agency.
Government officials are also believed to have drawn up documents with false information certifying that all works had been completed on time, which were then submitted to the DFZ in order to receive EU funding.
Among the suspects are experts from a municipality department that supervised construction works. One of the suspects is also being investigated for money laundering, according to the released information.
All affected persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in the competent Bulgarian courts.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office is the independent prosecutor's office of the European Union. It is responsible for the investigation, prosecution and prosecution of crimes against the EU's financial interests.| BGNES
