Two people have been arrested in Spain on suspicion of a €3.3 million fraud involving EU subsidies intended to promote employment.
The suspects were detained on Wednesday at the request of EPPO prosecutors in Madrid, including one public official, with the alleged scheme spanning 15 years, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) announced.
Searches were carried out in the provinces of Zamora and Salamanca, targeting company premises and suspects’ homes.
Investigators also seized more than a dozen bank accounts holding deposits worth over €550,000 and more than 40 residential and land properties in those provinces.
The investigation concerns suspected subsidy fraud and alleged money laundering.
One suspect is the president of three non-profit associations that received more than 20 subsidies from the European Social Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development between 2010 and 2025.
The suspect applied to the same programmes for all three associations, and the funds were intended to promote employment and encourage people to settle in Zamora and Salamanca.
Allegations include false invoices and diverted funds
Some employees hired with EU funding were relatives of the suspect who actually worked for the suspect by promoting wine produced by his winery in Zamora, the EPPO said.
The subsidies were allegedly obtained with the support of the suspect’s partner — a public official — who used their position to facilitate the scheme.
The suspect is also accused of creating a network of companies to divert funds and issue false invoices for fictitious operations, including a firm presented as promoting cross-border cooperation in more than 100 villages in Portugal and Spain.
The EPPO also alleged that bank accounts of several companies in Portugal under the suspect’s control were used to launder the proceeds.
Significant amounts are understood to have been used for real estate investments and to set up the suspect’s winery in a town in Zamora.
The investigation was supported by Spain’s Guardia Civil, the Customs Service in Zamora, Salamanca and Valladolid, and the Spanish Tax Agency. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in Spanish courts.
