Members of an organised crime group in Lithuania have been convicted of fraud involving funds for young farmers.

The Vilnius City District Court convicted members of the group in a fraudulent scheme involving EU and national funds intended for young farmers.

The case following charges brought by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Vilnius.

The EPPO is the independent public prosecution office of the European Union.

It is responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU.

Fraud

The EPPO said that this judgment marks the conclusion of proceedings against 26 individuals involved in a large-scale fraud scheme.

Four organisers were found guilty and fined a total of €150,000.

In addition, 22 perpetrators in the scheme pleaded guilty and fully compensated the EU and Lithuanian budgets for the damage caused, amounting to around €500,000.

The court granted them a conditional exemption from criminal liability under simplified criminal proceedings.

€34,000 was also confiscated from the defendants and they were ordered to pay €37,000 into the Crime Victims Fund.

Scheme

The EPPO investigation found that four Lithuanian nationals organised a complex fraud scheme involving fictitious young farmers who formally met the criteria for EU support but carried out no genuine economic activity.

Individuals were recruited to submit applications in their own names while acting under the organisers’ control.

According to the EPPO, the scheme involved the use of forged documents, including applications and business plans, as well as sham land transactions supported by fictitious financial arrangements.

Agricultural activity was largely simulated, with the purported beneficiaries neither managing farms nor investing their own resources.

"The aim was to misappropriate EU funds by retaining control over assets acquired in the beneficiaries’ names and, after the end of the monitoring period, selling them and distributing the proceeds.

"From the outset, the scheme was designed to obtain financial gain through deception rather than to carry out legitimate agricultural activity," the EPPO said in a statement.