Italian police said on Wednesday that they had arrested 16 people as they uncovered more corruption in the way European Union (EU) rural aid money was distributed in Sicily.
The Guardia di Finanza, Italy’s financial police, said that funds totalling more than 12.5 million euros (14 million dollars) were paid out illegally.
ALSO READ:[BREAKING] Imo: Supreme Court dismisses Ihedioha’s review application
Further unlawful disbursements of 3.5 million euros were frozen, police added.
Those arrested are local public officials and farm owners and consultants who were in cahoots over the allocation of EU money.
Four were placed in pre-trial custody and 12 were put under house arrest.
They face charges including criminal association, corruption, forgery of official documents and disclosure of confidential information, a Guardia di Finanza statement said.
Police seized assets from the suspects worth around 12.5 million euros as well as businesses worth 24 million euros, including the farms involved in the scam.
A further eight suspects targeted by the investigation were issued with orders not to leave their towns of residence and to report to police, the Guardia di Finanza added.
Wednesday’s police raid concerned money earmarked for the Sicily region by the European agricultural fund for rural development (EAFRD) for the 2007-2013 and 2014-2020 periods.
In January, another police raid in Sicily led to the arrest of nearly 100 people in connection to a scam worth more than 10 million euro scam involving the Sicilian Mafia and EU farm subsidies.
Leave a Reply