Following an investigation by the European Public Prosecution Service, 23 suspects were arrested in Spain last week in connection with a fraud involving European agricultural subsidies. More than three million euros in CAP hectare subsidies were wrongly collected. In addition to the arrests, the Spanish tax police also seized bank accounts and property of the suspects.
The Spanish criminals had orchestrated a complex scheme involving several companies that profited from the sale of fictitious property rights to applicants for Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidies.
The arrests were carried out in Córdoba, Seville, Écija and Jerez de la Frontera by the fiscal unit of the Spanish National Police.
According to the European Public Prosecutor's Office, the criminal network provided forged title deeds and counterfeit rental contracts that allowed Spanish farmers to apply for more subsidies for larger plots of land. This also allowed them to meet the hectare thresholds required by the CAP.
The real owners of the land were unaware that their plots were being fraudulently used by third parties to apply for EU funds. The persons in question are alleged to have committed various offenses of subsidy fraud and forgery, causing an estimated loss of EUR 3 million to the EU budget.
The EU countries are themselves responsible for maintaining administration for all kinds of European rules and guidelines, including compliance and monitoring thereof. Investigations have recently been launched in the Netherlands because farmers applied for European subsidies for nature management of strips and plots of land that do not belong to them, and for which they could not demonstrate contracts with the owners.
The investigation in Spain began last year after a crime report from the regional government of Catalonia was forwarded to the EPPO. The EPPO is the independent public prosecutor of the European Union and has only recently become operational. It is responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to justice crimes affecting the financial interests of EU.