Romanian IT procurement probe targets €7m in EU-funded projects
On behalf of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Bucharest (Romania), 19 searches were conducted today at the premises of individuals and companies in an investigation into suspected procurement fraud involving EU-funded IT projects worth €7 million.
The investigation concerns 29 projects financed under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and the Operational Programme Administrative Capacity – Integrated Territorial Investment (ITI) Danube Delta. The projects involved the procurement of IT consultancy services, software and IT infrastructure.
According to the investigation, there are substantial grounds to believe that a criminal network manipulated public procurement procedures for IT consultancy services in order to favour preselected suppliers of cloud infrastructure solutions for public authorities, mainly town halls and county councils.
The evidence gathered indicates that, in multiple projects, consultancy companies delivered documentation containing extensive similarities in content, structure and authorship, suggesting the systematic reuse of materials. Investigators also suspect that suppliers submitted false, inaccurate or incomplete documents during procurement procedures.
The searches and investigation are carried out with the assistance of the EPPO Support Structure in Romania, the Romanian Police – Special Operations Directorate (Poliția Română – Directia de Operatiuni Speciale), Special Operations Services from Iași, and Timișoara, Economic Crime Investigation Service Ilfov, Brașov, Iași, Arges, Constanța (I.P.J. Ilfov, Brașov, Iași, Arges, Constanța – Serviciul de Investigare a Criminalitatii Economice), Criminal Investigation Service Ilfov (IPJ Ilfov - SIC) and the Combating Organized Crime Brigade Timișoara (BCCO Timișoara). The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) also provided operational analysis in support of the investigation.
All persons concerned are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the competent Romanian courts of law.
The EPPO is the independent 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.
Head of Investigations
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