Assets worth more than €55 million have been seized in Italy and the Netherlands in an investigation into alleged misuse of public funds linked to a solar power plant in southern Italy.
The case centres on a company based in the province of Milan that is suspected of misappropriating public money connected to a solar power plant built in Caserta, near Naples, according to Eurojust, the EU agency for criminal justice co-operation.
Investigators are looking into the Italian company, its representative and a parent company in the Netherlands, after suspects allegedly obtained public funds they were not entitled to.
The suspects are accused of producing false documents to make it appear that three large-scale solar power plants were completed before a regulatory deadline, and then claiming benefits by presenting the projects as having been delivered early.
Seizures carried out after joint action day
Co-operation between Dutch and Italian authorities helped establish that potential liability could extend to the parent company in the Netherlands, as the alleged offence is suspected to have been committed in the parent company’s interests and those of the directors of both firms, Eurojust said.
The seizures were carried out during an action day on 23 April and included cash and real estate, with the total value matching the alleged profit from the suspected offence.
The operation involved the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Rome and the Guardia di Finanza’s Economic Financial Department in Bari in Italy, and the Dutch Public Prosecutor’s Office for Serious Fraud, Environmental Crime and Asset Confiscation.
