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IT project in Romania was a 9.5 million fraud and money laundering scheme

11/04/2025

OLAF and EPPO jointly uncover 9.5 million fraud and money laundering scheme

  • The European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF) was key in investigating a sophisticated fraud and money laundering scheme involving European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) resources, with an estimated financial impact of EUR 9.5 million.

An IT project in Romania.

  • OLAF’s investigation started following a request from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) regarding suspected EU fraud, document forgery, and money laundering in an IT project in Romania.
  • The EU financial support, intended to develop an innovative IT platform, was exploited by an organised group to obtain EU funds and fraudulently launder the proceeds of crime.
  • OLAF’s investigative activities, conducted closely with EPPO, included several on-the-spot checks in Cyprus and Czechia and operational intelligence analysis of the IT platforms developed under the EU project.
  • Due to the investigative cooperation, EPPO has indicted 12 defendants—six individuals and six legal entities—on charges of EU fraud and money laundering.

Sophisticated money-laundering network

  • The evidence gathered points to a sophisticated and structured money-laundering scheme orchestrated by a network of individuals and companies across
    • Romania, Cyprus, Czechia, and the United Arab Emirates.
  • OLAF’s investigation helped to determine that the group operated systematically, with each member playing a specific role in the criminal acquisition of EU taxpayers’ money and laundering the proceeds of crime.
  • The funds were diverted through fictitious contracts before being used for personal enrichment.
  • Operational intelligence analysis revealed suspicious banking transactions spanning multiple jurisdictions, including
    • Cyprus, Czechia, France, Germany, Hungary, Monaco, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States.

The report

Source

https://anti-fraud.ec.europa.eu/document/download/ad80c9e0-53fc-43d3-96cf-11e7e2aa8ea6_en?filename=pr-08042025-olaf-eppo-uncover-10-million-fraud-scheme_en.pdf

FRAUD MONEY LAUNDERING EU

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As well as owning and publishing Comsure's copyrighted works, Comsure wishes to use the copyright-protected works of others. To do so, Comsure is applying for exemptions in the UK copyright law. There are certain very specific situations where Comsure is permitted to do so without seeking permission from the owner. These exemptions are in the copyright sections of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended)[www.gov.UK/government/publications/copyright-acts-and-related-laws]. Many situations allow for Comsure to apply for exemptions. These include 1] Non-commercial research and private study, 2] Criticism, review and reporting of current events, 3] the copying of works in any medium as long as the use is to illustrate a point. 4] no posting is for commercial purposes [payment]. (for a full list of exemptions, please read here www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright]. Concerning the exceptions, Comsure will acknowledge the work of the source author by providing a link to the source material. Comsure claims no ownership of non-Comsure content. The non-Comsure articles posted on the Comsure website are deemed important, relevant, and newsworthy to a Comsure audience (e.g. regulated financial services and professional firms [DNFSBs]). Comsure does not wish to take any credit for the publication, and the publication can be read in full in its original form if you click the articles link that always accompanies the news item. Also, Comsure does not seek any payment for highlighting these important articles. If you want any article removed, Comsure will automatically do so on a reasonable request if you email info@comsuregroup.com.  

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As well as owning and publishing Comsure's copyrighted works, Comsure wishes to use the copyright-protected works of others. To do so, Comsure is applying for exemptions in the UK copyright law. There are certain very specific situations where Comsure is permitted to do so without seeking permission from the owner. These exemptions are in the copyright sections of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended)[www.gov.UK/government/publications/copyright-acts-and-related-laws]. Many situations allow for Comsure to apply for exemptions. These include 1] Non-commercial research and private study, 2] Criticism, review and reporting of current events, 3] the copying of works in any medium as long as the use is to illustrate a point. 4] no posting is for commercial purposes [payment]. (for a full list of exemptions, please read here www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright]. Concerning the exceptions, Comsure will acknowledge the work of the source author by providing a link to the source material. Comsure claims no ownership of non-Comsure content. The non-Comsure articles posted on the Comsure website are deemed important, relevant, and newsworthy to a Comsure audience (e.g. regulated financial services and professional firms [DNFSBs]). Comsure does not wish to take any credit for the publication, and the publication can be read in full in its original form if you click the articles link that always accompanies the news item. Also, Comsure does not seek any payment for highlighting these important articles. If you want any article removed, Comsure will automatically do so on a reasonable request if you email info@comsuregroup.com.