The European Prosecutor’s Office has expanded its investigation into alleged fraud in agricultural aid of 400,000 euros from the EU, as stated in a June 9 decision to which EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA of the Prensa Ibérica group has exclusive access. Investigations already affect at least four agricultural organizations, depending on their content: in particular COAG in Granada, Huelva and Seville (Andalusia); and the other three linked to the previous one: Young Farmers I Ramaders of Catalonia (JARC), Unió de Pagesos de Mallorca and Unión Agroganadera de Álava-Arabako Nekazarien Elkartea (UAGA). All of them are involved in the lawsuit filed in 2021.
In the investigated procedures The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has no possibility of popular accusationand legal entities cannot be a part of them, merely as interested parties.
Certainly, the tax office headed by Concepción Sabadell admitted the secrecy of the proceedings on 19 November 2021a few days later, specifically on November 24, the guarantee was upheld by the judge, president of the National Court’s No. 1 Central Education Court.
secretly
The aforementioned agriculture and livestock organizations showed that they were against the secret investigation of the case, in a letter addressed to the National Court’s Criminal Division on April 10.
However, the Criminal Division of the National Court directly dismissed the appeal, considering it inadmissible for it to be processed for the following reasons: The regulations do not allow an appeal against the decision to verify the secret disclosed by the European Prosecutor’s Office..
HE Confidentiality of the trial was maintained for one yearSince it was brought to the agenda with the Decree-Law dated 19 December 2022, the parties have had access to the trial in person since that date.
The National Police carried out last February Two registrations at COAG’s national headquarters in Madrid and at the regional center of Andalusia, regarding a potential fraud of 400,000 euros. For their part, representatives of this agricultural organization showed in a statement that they were “surprised and disturbed” by the information regarding the investigations provided by the National Police Service. And they stressed that “after a year and a half of investigation, we have not been informed of any irregularities to which the same content refers”, according to their version, it is only about a single aid of 33,000 euros attached to housing. for foreigners working in the fields. This newsroom contacted a COAG spokesperson, who chose not to comment on the case.
in Mallorca
Editorial The newspaper Diario de Mallorca from Prensa Ibérica announced that among the aid files examined there are twenty aid files processed by Unió de Pagesos of COAG in the Balearic Islands. The scam would have been done by presenting false aid files for hiring seasonal workers.
These documents were processed in Mallorca and concerned the accommodation of seasonal workers for the grape harvest or the harvesting of fruit and vegetable crops. HE Sebastià Ordinas, Secretary General of the Unió de PagesosHe assured the Balearic newspaper that his union did not receive any of this assistance and that it was all paid to COAG: “Our task was simply to check that the accommodation of the seasonal workers on the farms was in good condition.” He settled down.
in the Canary Islands
In the same sense, as Vozpópuli progressed, so did the European Prosecutor’s Office. questioned a group of Canarian farmers as investigated allegation of grant fraud. The agency investigating whether crimes had been committed with assistance from the Government of the Canary Islands in some trials has already taken statements from some of those involved in the initial complaint made by an Administration official.
According to the newspaper, this public employee, warned of irregularities “on purpose” for example, some do not work, do not cultivate land, or do not comply with what is stated in the business plan (mandatory to access these supports). It also revealed that in some cases the declared volume of business was not real and that one of the farmers had pensioners working in the plots.