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Tomatoes from Italy
Photo: Luigi Baldelli / KONTROLAB / LightRocket / Getty Images
Nine people and organizations are coming to court in Romania following investigations by EU anti-fraud agency Olaf and national authorities.
The gang is said to have embezzled hundreds of thousands of euros in EU funds in Romania and Italy through dubious deals with supposed tomato plantations.
The suspects are accused of having embezzled around 850,000 euros in EU agricultural subsidies intended for tomato plantations in Romania.
However, the group never intended to grow tomatoes.
Authorities uncovered a number of forged documents and shell companies.
These were apparently used to get the money illegally.
The alleged fraudsters then transferred the sums to bank accounts in Italy and used them for other criminal activities.
as/dpa
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