They declared false pastures to obtain European contributions, seizures for 400 thousand euros – BitontoLive.it

The Carabinieri Alta Murgia National Park department of Altamura has executed a decree issued by the office of the judge for preliminary investigations at the court of Bari at the request of the European prosecutor’s office – Rome office – which ordered the preventive seizure of money and financial assetseven by equivalent, of other goods or utilities owned by the suspects for 400 thousand eurosprofit from a crime committed by a representative of an agricultural company, operating in the province of Bari and Bat, and by his delegate.

The investigations, carried out by the specialized department of the Army for the surveillance of the territories falling within the Alta Murgia National Park, made it possible to contest the aggravated fraud aimed at the illicit obtaining of significant public contributions intended for the agricultural sector and provided by Agea (Agency for disbursements in agriculture).

According to what was reconstructed from the investigations, in the period 2017 – 2021, the suspects would have submitted payment requests declaring that they were the managers of agricultural land intended for grazing animals; furthermore they would have created fictitious animal management contracts, thus creating the requirements for accessing public funding. The military discovered, among other things, that much of the land had been affected by fires in recent years, making it unusable as land for grazing livestock.

The operation demonstrates the work of the Carabinieri of the Alta Murgia National Park department of Altamura committed not only to the environmental protection of the important protected area but also in the fight against fraud damaging the budgets of the State and the European Union.

The seizure also represents the outcome of the enforcement action carried out by the European Prosecutor’s Office with the aim of breaking down crimes against the financial interests of the European Union.