Bratislava – The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has filed charges with the Specialized Criminal Court (ŠTS) against an individual and a company for allegedly damaging the financial interests of the European Union (EU) and for document forgery in connection with grants intended for beer production. This announcement was made on Friday by European delegated prosecutor Martin Pacalaj, as reported by TASR.
According to Pacalaj, the individual accused, who served as the managing director of the company in question, sought a non-repayable financial grant of 192,338 euros in April 2021, fully financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for beer production.
The investigation revealed that the accused submitted a forged statement to the Ministry of Economy (MH) of the Slovak Republic on August 26, 2021, during the approval process for the financial grant. This fraudulent document falsely claimed that the beer production line did not require an environmental impact assessment (EIA), a necessary process which could have significantly delayed or prevented approval.
Pacalaj further indicated that this forged statement was created by another individual who was operating on behalf of a different business, both of whom have already been convicted in previous legal proceedings. By submitting this fake document, the accused circumvented the requisite conditions and fraudulently attempted to secure the grant, jeopardizing the integrity of the funding approval process and neglecting crucial environmental protections.
Under the Slovak Republic’s Criminal Code, if found guilty of harming the financial interests of the EU and forging a public document, the accused individual faces a potential prison sentence of up to six years. Additionally, they may incur a financial penalty of up to three million euros. The company in question could face fines of up to 1.6 million euros and may be prohibited from receiving any EU funds or support for up to a decade.
Pacalaj emphasized that all individuals accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the appropriate Slovak courts.
The EPPO is an independent prosecution office of the EU located in Luxembourg, tasked with investigating and prosecuting crimes that impact the financial interests of the EU. (November 22)
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