European authorities confiscate Lamborghinis and Rolexes in connection with suspected $650 million Covid-19 fraud

22 persons have been arrested and assets worth over €600 million ($650 million) confiscated in connection with alleged EU post-pandemic recovery fund fraud.

Eight people were imprisoned, 14 were placed under house detention, and two were forbidden from practicing after an EU prosecutor probe. Italy, Austria, Romania, and Slovakia reported arrests.

Thursday, the Italian financial police announced they had confiscated Lamborghinis, Porsches, Rolexes, Cartier jewelry, cryptocurrency, luxury villas, and other goods after dozens of raids on houses and workplaces.

A criminal group is suspected of swindling Italy's recovery packages between 2021 and 2023, according to the EPPO.

The EPPO claimed the group sought for non-repayable funds in 2021 to promote small- and medium-sized firms but then created phony balance sheets “to show that the companies were active and profitable, whereas in fact they were non-active, fictitious companies.”

The EPPO reported that the company transferred €600 million from the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) to Austria, Romania, and Slovakia bank accounts.

The prosecution said the organization employed cryptocurrencies, AI, and offshore cloud servers to commit and hide the fraud.