The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Stuttgart has filed charges against three foreign nationals, one of whom is Croatian, on suspicion of forming a criminal group, fraud, and illegal employment, it was announced today in Stuttgart.
The three suspects, in addition to the Croatian national, include an Italian and a Romanian, are accused of illegally employing workers in construction on a large scale from 2000 to 2006, thereby causing social funds a loss of at least 3.1 million euros. The leader of the group is identified as a 48-year-old Italian who, together with his Croatian partner, managed several construction companies in the Stuttgart area.
To facilitate the payment of a larger number of illegal workers, the three suspects established a whole series of companies that existed only on paper, leading to the investigation being expanded to include the crime of forming a criminal group. All three suspects were arrested late last year during a raid. The Croatian entrepreneur from Stuttgart, whose name and initials the prosecutor’s office refused to disclose, has so far remained silent.
