EPPO Expands Investigation into Subsidy Fraud

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Zagreb has expanded its investigation against four defendants and one company for subsidy fraud and money laundering, due to suspicions of another subsidy fraud committed by one of the accused individuals and another company.

EPPO initiated the investigation in October 2023 regarding the allocation of EU grants for agriculture under the call ‘Support for Investment in Agricultural Holdings’ with a total value of 2.5 million euros.

The call was co-financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) with 85 percent and the Croatian budget with 15 percent.

EPPO suspects that one of the accused individuals, from February 2015 to October 2023, was in collusion with the remaining three to fraudulently obtain EU grants for agriculture.

According to media reports, the investigation launched last October includes Vanja Gnjidić, founder and director of the companies G.R.M. d.o.o. and Geo Legal d.o.o., Darko Blažević, responsible person in the company 4 D d.o.o., Ljerka Mikić, director of the company GP Mikić d.o.o., and Danijela Blažević, who was authorized to represent the funds of the company Iskopi 4 D d.o.o.

Media previously highlighted that Gnjidić is suspected of having falsified data with the help of co-defendants regarding her possession of personal funds for establishing fig plantations on the island of Jakljan near Dubrovnik.

EAFRD Lost 58,885 Euros

EPPO announced on Wednesday that the same accused individual committed another subsidy fraud by submitting a false application for direct payments through the Integrated Administrative Control System (IACS) for rural development measures, financed by EAFRD, on behalf of another company.

Since the possession of agricultural land was one of the main eligibility criteria for the application, there are suspicions that, before submitting the application, the accused created the appearance of meeting a specific eligibility criterion by fraudulently acquiring a lease of large areas of state-owned agricultural land, specifies EPPO.

Subsequently, between May 2019 and July 2021, she submitted three payment requests to the Agency for Payments in Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development that contained false data.

The Agency, EPPO continues, paid out 58,885 euros based on the first two requests, while in the third request, it identified irregularities, which is why there was no further payment of 6,839 euros. As a result, EAFRD suffered a loss of 58,885 euros, emphasizes EPPO.

The prosecution adds that it will conduct necessary investigative actions in the further course of the investigation to determine all circumstances of the alleged criminal acts.