The Spanish criminals had devised a complex scheme involving multiple companies that profited from the sale of fictitious ownership rights to applicants of 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 produced forged ownership certificates and fake lease contracts that enabled Spanish farmers to apply for more subsidies for larger plots. This also helped them meet the hectare thresholds required by the CAP.
The actual landowners were unaware that their plots were fraudulently used by third parties to apply for EU funds. The individuals involved are suspected of several criminal offenses including subsidy fraud and forgery, causing an estimated loss of 3 million euros to the EU budget.
EU countries themselves are responsible for maintaining administration for various European rules and directives, including compliance and oversight. In the Netherlands, investigations were recently launched because farmers applied for European subsidies for nature management on strips and plots of land that were not theirs, and for which they could also not provide 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’s office of the European Union and has only recently become operational. It is responsible for investigating, prosecuting, and bringing to court crimes that harm the financial interests of the EU.