Complaint no. JOG/21/1/2024

As a result of the investigation procedure conducted in accordance with Act XXVII of 2022, The Integrity Authority filed a complaint against unknown person at the Criminal Directorate General of the National Tax and Customs Administration for the offence of budget fraud and the misdemeanour of using a forged private document on 21 February 2024.

The objective of the investigation procedure conducted by the Authority was to investigate the use of European Union funds provided for certain projects (the renovation of a cattle farm owned by the investigated company) concerning conflict of interest, supplying of false data, technical necessity and justification, and conformity with the objective of the Calls.

Based on the data and information revealed in the investigation procedure, the Authority has established the suspicion of irregularity in all stages of the project concerning the renovation of the cattle farm owned by the investigated company (hereinafter referred to as “Beneficiary”), including the funding application, the selection of the contractor, and the execution of the project.

The Authority has found that the Beneficiary had provided documents of doubtful veracity to prove its eligibility for the grant, deemed the actual agricultural activity required as a condition of the grant to be questionable, and found that the Beneficiary had not fulfilled, after being awarded the tender, its obligation to carry out the public procurement procedure for the civil engineering works. While a public procurement procedure was conducted in the context of the overground building works, compliance with the fundamental principles of Act CXLIII of 2015 on Public Procurement is questionable.

According to the Authority, all of the above-mentioned circumstances may have a negative impact on the implementation of European Union financial support and violate the sound financial management of the European Union budget.

Of the above investigative findings, it is relevant to the criminal complaint submitted by the Authority that the Beneficiary, despite having not fulfilled its obligation to conduct a public procurement procedure for the civil engineering works, submitted a false document to the Managing Authority on the conclusion of a public procurement procedure, which was then accepted by the Managing Authority. The fact that the Beneficiary excluded the price competition by fixing the tender price in the procurement procedure conducted for the civil engineering works, and that the same company was selected as winner of the procedure that had been previously selected by the Beneficiary to complete the civil engineering works, also constitutes a violation of financial interest concerning the use of European Union funds The Authority also finds it exceptionable that, as a result of the alleged public procurement procedure, the Contracting Authority implemented the contract with a different technical content.

The case is still pending.