22 people have been apprehended by the European police and assets worth over 600 million euros were seized in connection with a fraud case involving the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund.
The EU prosecutor looked into things and then caught eight people, put 14 others on house arrest, and stopped two others from working. People were arrested in Italy, Austria, Romania, and Slovakia.
The Italian financial police took Lamborghinis, Porsches, Rolexes, Cartier jewelry, cryptocurrencies, luxury villas and other things during many searches of homes and offices.
The possible fraud might make people worry about the EU’s €800-billion recovery fund being used in the wrong way to boost the economy of the bloc again. Italy received the most money from the fund, getting over 194 billion in grants.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) believes that a criminal group is suspected of carrying out a scam from 2021 to 2023 to cheat Italy’s recovery funds.
In 2021, the group asked for grants that they didn’t have to pay back. They said it was to help small and medium-sized companies. But they lied and made fake documents to make it look like the companies were doing well when they weren’t real.
After receiving about 600 million from the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), the group moved the money to their bank accounts in Austria, Romania, and Slovakia, according to the EPPO.
The prosecutor’s office said the group used digital money, computer programs that act like human intelligence, and servers located in other countries to commit and hide the fraud.
The United States has tried to stop people from cheating to get money meant to help with Covid-19. In June, a government agency said the Small Business Administration gave out over US$200 billion in fake pandemic relief money.
Tag: Lamborghinis
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European police seize Lamborghinis over alleged US$650 million COVID-19 fraud
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Robbers sentenced to 27 years in prison for stealing Ferraris and Lamborghinis
Two thieves who used a fake gun to steal from people who owned expensive cars by pretending to be interested buyers online have been sent to prison for a total of 27 years.
Mohammed Ali and Muhamed Juwara talked to the person selling a £170,000 Ferrari. They were asked to go to a house in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, near Mansfield, on September 20, 2022.
In court, Jonathan Dee said that Ali pointed a gun at Juwara and told him to put handcuffs on someone while they were sitting on a sofa.
Mr Juwara jumped on him and they started fighting. Ali grabbed the victim’s partner and took them away while still holding the gun.
She got to touch it and said “it feels like plastic” and then she tried to grab a vase. Their 9-year-old son, who was upstairs, ran away and Juwara yelled “the boy has left”.
Mr Dee said the two people ran away from the house when the police were called. The young boy was found safe at a friend’s house.
The people who broke in left some handcuffs, tape, and small metal balls behind. Ali was caught by the police using DNA evidence and is now in custody.
The evidence showed that he was also involved in a similar attack in Gloucestershire two months before.
On that day, Ali said he had £20 million and acted like he wanted to buy a £164,000 Lamborghini.
After he was asked to come inside the owner’s house, he showed a fake gun and said he would harm the man while tying him up.
The court was told that he asked the man to send him £100,000 and made fun of him when he could only send £7,000, saying, “I thought you were rich – is that all you have. ”
After that, he took him to Stafford, which is about 76 miles away, and left him there.
The prosecutor spoke about how the three victims were affected by the crime.
The person who owns a Ferrari said: “It has made me different. I don’t trust people who come to my house anymore and I can’t stop thinking about what happened. ”
His partner said: “I feel more nervous and I get scared easily around other people. ” I really thought I was going to die.
The person who owns the Lamborghini said that the incident really changed his life a lot.