# CE2004078EN.01064801.xml

| 27.3.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | CE 78/648 |
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27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 78/648

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(2004/C 78 E/0689)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3815/03

by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission

(11 December 2003)

Subject:   Judicial inquiry by the Salerno Prosecutor's Office into EUR 30 million fraud against the European Union

Subject:

On 2 December 2003 the AGI Italian press agency published a report entitled ‘EUR 30 million fraud against the EU: seven arrested in the Salerno region’. According to this report:

| — | an organisation which illegally obtained state and Community funding has been dismantled by the regional branch of the Guardia di Finanza police, who arrested seven people; |
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an organisation which illegally obtained state and Community funding has been dismantled by the regional branch of the Guardia di Finanza police, who arrested seven people;

| — | investigations were coordinated by the Salerno Public Prosecutor's Office; |
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investigations were coordinated by the Salerno Public Prosecutor's Office;

| — | companies and property amounting to EUR 100 million were confiscated in the country; |
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companies and property amounting to EUR 100 million were confiscated in the country;

| — | the people under investigation had set up a group of interconnected companies which had received funding between 1997 and 2003 amounting to EUR 30 million; |
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the people under investigation had set up a group of interconnected companies which had received funding between 1997 and 2003 amounting to EUR 30 million;

| — | the organisation, which could count on the cooperation of three officials at the Ministry for Productive Activities, had claimed public funds to cover false expenditure, based on forged accounts and off-accounts documents. |
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the organisation, which could count on the cooperation of three officials at the Ministry for Productive Activities, had claimed public funds to cover false expenditure, based on forged accounts and off-accounts documents.

Will the Commission state:

| — | whether it is aware of these facts and, if so, what action it has taken or intends to take on the matter? |
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whether it is aware of these facts and, if so, what action it has taken or intends to take on the matter?

| — | whether OLAF has been informed of the matter and, if so, whether it has initiated or intends to initiate an investigation? |
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whether OLAF has been informed of the matter and, if so, whether it has initiated or intends to initiate an investigation?

Answer given by Ms Schreyer on behalf of the Commission

(27 January 2004)

(27 January 2004)

The Commission can inform the Honourable Member that the European Antifraud Office (OLAF) is aware that the Italian authorities are conducting a judicial investigation into alleged instances of fraud against the Union.

As judicial proceedings are already in motion in Italy, at the Prosecution Service for Salerno, OLAF is available to provide the judicial authorities with all such assistance as they may request.

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