Twenty-one people have been arrested in Croatia as part of a European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) investigation into suspected corruption and fraud involving EU agricultural subsidies, the organisation said.
Those held are Croatian citizens and include one public official and a former public official, according to the EPPO’s office in Zagreb.
The arrests followed 30 searches carried out on 6 May involving 150 police officers, in cooperation with the Sisak-Moslavina Police Department and financial investigators from Croatia’s Ministry of Finance tax administration, the EPPO said.
Among the suspects are a former expert adviser and the head of a branch office of Croatia’s Paying Agency for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, with allegations including abuse of office and receiving bribes, the organisation said.
### Claims of inflated land and falsified paperwork
Investigators allege that from 2020 a former expert adviser formed a criminal association with two others to help farmers obtain subsidies they were not entitled to from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund — both EU schemes that support farming and rural areas — in exchange for money, the EPPO said.
It is alleged that the group inflated declared land areas and falsified documents claiming agricultural work had been carried out, including by creating fraudulent invoices for manure sales and false laboratory soil analyses to support applications for EU funding, it added.
The former official, the two alleged associates and the farmers under investigation are suspected of attempting to unlawfully obtain €670,000 in EU funds, of which €357,000 was paid out, according to the EPPO.
The suspected criminal group is alleged to have received at least €36,000 in payments for its role, it said.
Separately, the head of a branch office at the paying agency is suspected of working with at least four farmers to help prepare and submit EU funding applications in exchange for illicit financial benefits, the EPPO said.
The suspected offences being investigated include abuse of office and authority, receiving and offering bribes, subsidy fraud and forgery of documents, the organisation added.
All those involved are presumed innocent until proven guilty in Croatian courts, the EPPO said.
