The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has seized the assets of Bulgarian civil servants suspected of embezzling funds from the European Union.
The suspects include public officials, a mayor and municipality officials from the supervising department.
The EPPO investigation centres around a €2.6 million water-supply reconstruction project funded by Bulgaria’s State fund for Agriculture, under the EU’s Rural Development Programme.
The Sofia Court of Appeal imposed precautionary measures, including the seizure of seven buildings and three vehicles belonging to the suspects under investigation.
The investigation comes amid water shortage in Bulgaria.
Real estate and vehicles have been seized in our investigation into a €2.6 million water supply network reconstruction project in Bulgaria 🇧🇬. Public officials, a mayor and private companies are suspected of defrauding the EU budget. 👉Read more: https://t.co/YT423SLogP pic.twitter.com/zrJC1yz5j3
— European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) (@EUProsecutor) August 26, 2024
According to the EPPO, the assets seized will serve “to compensate the estimated damage to the EU budget”.
Bulgarian authorities have revealed that an “investigation uncovered evidence of fraud in the execution of the contract, awarded to private companies”.
The Sofia Court suspects a public official with the Bulgaria Fund for Agriculture of making fraudulent arrangements with a mayor and companies involved to inflate the cost of the works and overcharge the paying agency.
Corruption remains a significant problem in Bulgaria. According to the latest Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Bulgaria scores at 45/100, indicating what it termed as serious corruption problems.
Out of the 180 countries around the globe ranked for their perceived levels of public sector corruption, Bulgaria comes in at 48th place in the CPI.
