Someone at the European Commission’s (EC) Research Executive Agency (REA) has a lot of explaining to do. Namely, how it was possible for a proposal for research money could be approved for a project that didn’t exist. Apparently, an organization had requested hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund forest fire research, which was approved. The money, however, was never used for its intended purpose and, instead, helped fund an unidentified casino on the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus.
According to the Cyprus Mail, a “European consortium” comprised of five entities out of France, Ireland, Romania and Spain approached the REA with its idea. It was able to receive approval for more than €400,000 ($434,440) to fund its endeavor, but it was all a ruse. As the supposed project continued to move forward, the agency began to feel that something was off about receipts that were being submitted, and it reached out to the European Union’s anti-fraud division, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF, for its French acronym), for some assistance.
OLAF launched an investigation that included spot checks and digital forensics to uncover more about the consortium and its activities. What it determined was that the group didn’t have the technical experience or background to conduct the research, and determined, in November of last year, that the consortium’s project was completely fabricated, from the initial request through the continued progress reports presented to REA.
OLAF was also able to determine that the money ultimately went to a casino project in Cyprus, but it didn’t specify which property was the recipient, or if it was even used for an existing project – it could have been meant to support a casino request in the country. The head of OLAF, Ville Itälä, is disappointed in the findings, and says, “With the EU focusing increasingly on environment and climate change, we have to make sure that money supposed to be used to improve our understanding of climate change and develop vital tools to help us tackle it, is used exactly for this purpose. With the Commission’s ambitious Green Deal, and the clear need to focus on the health, economic and social consequences of the current Coronavirus pandemic, we will need to ensure that EU money is properly spent. Now more than ever, every euro counts, and OLAF will continue to ensure it is properly accounted for.”
REA is expected to try to recuperate the misused funds from the consortium, if possible, and criminal charges could be coming, as well. OLAF can only investigate and make recommendations – it cannot prosecute. Therefore, the impetus is on REA to hold the criminals accountable.
