Financial police in Venice, Italy, have arrested 22 people on fraud charges, seizing villas, cars and jewelry worth €600 million.
The fraud case concerns Covid funds, tells Euronews, massive crime linked to misuse of recovery fund EU after the pandemic. The police acted at the request of the Venice Office of the European Prosecutor's Office.
Numerous assets were confiscated from the suspects – from villas and luxury cars to Rolex watches and jewelry. According to the publication, citing information from law enforcement officers, three people were arrested in Slovakia, two in Austria and 17 in Italy. Searches were also carried out in Romania.
Italy received almost 102 billion euros from the European Union's pandemic recovery funds, far more than other countries.
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