A number of Italian officials have been accused of giving land parcel data to third parties who then fraudulently claimed payments on the land without farming it or having any claim to it.
The officials were tasked with making farm payments to farmers.
The farmers that owned the land that was fraudulently claimed for, had not drawn any payments on the land.
These third parties are charged with having then claimed these parcels, without a valid legal title to the land and without performing any agricultural activity on it.
Criminal proceedings
These alleged offences form part of a major suspected fraud case concerning claims dating back to 2010, for which criminal proceedings began in 2021 and are still ongoing.
The case was highlighted in an audit report by the European Court of Auditors, which looked into conflicts of interest in the payment of EU farming funds and found that there is no clear overview of how much funding is paid to those making false or fraud-linked claims.
In a similar case in Luxembourg, it was found that a ministry of agriculture employee shared “confidential data on agricultural parcels” on which no payments were claimed with his wife, who is a farmer.
The spouse claimed farm supports on the land without disclosing his conflict of interest and was sentenced to two years in prison, with 18 months’ probation.
Audit
The audit into the payment of EU agricultural funds has found that some fraudulent activities still occur, despite efforts to increase transparency and prevent conflicts of interest with those making payments to farmers.
Conflicts of interest can occur where family, political interests or personal economic interests become involved in decisions in relation to whom CAP payments are made.
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