German and Italian authorities worked together with Eurojust and Europol to stop a fraudulent scheme. The suspects targeted public institutions, cities, and municipalities, and were able to cause damages of several million euros. On 24 September, an operation took place where technology and assets were seized and search warrants against five suspects were executed.
For over a year, suspects ran a fraudulent scheme in Germany that made them millions. Several public institutions, companies, cities, and municipalities were affected by the scheme. By using phishing techniques, the suspects gained access to real invoices that were addressed to public institutions and companies. The fraudsters manipulated them with their own financial information. The manipulated invoices were then sent to victims, who paid them to the fraudsters instead of their business partners.
Investigations into the scheme identified five suspects with Italian and German citizenship. As authorities needed to search properties in Germany and Italy, a cross-border case was opened at Eurojust. Coordination through Eurojust defined the strategy of the investigation between the German and Italian authorities. Authorities decided to execute simultaneous searches in the two countries to gather evidence of the fraud and seize assets that were gained through the fraudulent scheme. Europol provided continuous intelligence development to map out the different targets and their criminal activity.
On 24 September, search warrants against five suspects were executed in Germany and Italy and ten properties were searched. During the operation, Europol activated a Virtual Command Post to provide support from its headquarters to the investigators on the field as they carried out their enforcement actions. Assets were provisionally secured, and cell phones, computers, and data storage devices were seized. Special Forces will now investigate the seized technology as the investigation continues.
The following authorities were involved in the actions:
- Germany: Public Prosecution Office Leipzig – Central Cybercrime Office, Leipzig Criminal Investigation Department – Commissariat 33 (Cybercrime)
- Italy: Public Prosecutor’s Office Naples; Economic and Financial Police Units of the Guardia di Finanza Naples, Verona, Treviso and Bolzano
