Members of an organised crime group in Lithuania have been convicted of fraud involving funds for young farmers.
The Vilnius City District Court convicted members of the group in a fraudulent scheme involving EU and national funds intconcludeed for young farmers.
The case following charges brought by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Vilnius.
The EPPO is the indepconcludeent public prosecution office of the European Union.
It is responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU.
Fraud
The EPPO stated that this judgment marks the conclusion of proceedings against 26 individuals involved in a large-scale fraud scheme.
Four organisers were found guilty and fined a total of €150,000.
In addition, 22 perpetrators in the scheme pleaded guilty and fully compensated the EU and Lithuanian budobtains for the damage caapplyd, amounting to around €500,000.
The court granted them a conditional exemption from criminal liability under simplified criminal proceedings.
€34,000 was also confiscated from the defconcludeants and they were ordered to pay €37,000 into the Crime Victims Fund.
Scheme
The EPPO investigation found that four Lithuanian nationals organised a complex fraud scheme involving fictitious young farmers who formally met the criteria for EU support but carried out no genuine economic activity.
Individuals were recruited to submit applications in their own names while acting under the organisers’ control.
According to the EPPO, the scheme involved the apply of forged documents, including applications and business plans, as well as sham land transactions supported by fictitious financial arrangements.
Agricultural activity was largely simulated, with the purported beneficiaries neither managing farms nor investing their own resources.
“The aim was to misappropriate EU funds by retaining control over assets acquired in the beneficiaries’ names and, after the conclude of the monitoring period, selling them and distributing the proceeds.
“From the outset, the scheme was designed to obtain financial gain through deception rather than to carry out legitimate agricultural activity,” the EPPO stated in a statement.
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