Authorities have made arrests and seized assets to the value of €1.4 million as part of an investigation into fraud of agricultural funds in Sicily, Italy.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Palermo, the capital and largest city in Sicily, said it has taken down a criminal organisation involved in agricultural funding fraud.

One suspect was arrested this week and five others were put under coercive measure.

According to the investigation, between 2018 and 2022, the criminal group, active in several provinces of Sicily, established fictitious companies to fraudulently acquire Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payment entitlements from Italy's National Reserve.

The value of these payment entitlements was worth more than €360,000, thus misleading Italy’s Agency for Payments in Agriculture (AGEA), responsible for managing and paying out agricultural funds.

The alleged suspects are suspected of declaring ownership and possession of land that they did not own, and of falsely declaring acquisition of land parcels through usucaption (acquiring property by being in possession of it for a certain period of time).

Based on the evidence, the illegal profits were subsequently transferred to other companies, to conceal their illicit origin, or reinvested, including through participation in public auctions to purchase land, the EPPO said.

One suspect was placed under house arrest with an electronic bracelet.

The judge for preliminary investigations of Messina also ordered another suspect to stay in the municipality of residence, and banned four others from holding management positions in companies or requesting EU subsidies or state contributions for one year.

Besides these six individuals, 23 other suspects are being investigated for fraud and money laundering.

As well as that, the local agri-food protection office in the Carabinieri (one of Italy's national police forces) seized €60,000 in CAP payment entitlements issued by the AGEA, two plots of agricultural land in the province of Messina, and two apartments in the province of Catania.

Bank accounts worth €60,000 were also frozen.

The EPPO said that all persons concerned are presumed to be in innocent until proven guilty in the competent Italian courts of law.