ＥＵ農業補助金１２億円詐取、伊マフィアと公務員ら９４人逮捕

【ローマＡＦＰ＝時事】イタリア警察は15日、シチリア島を拠点に、欧州連合（EU）の農業補助金約1000万ユーロ（約12億円）をだまし取っていた大掛かりなマフィア詐欺組織を解体したと発表した。（写真は伊シチリアで、追尾する容疑者らをサーマルカメラで捉えた画像。イタリア警察当局GdF提供）
　メッシナ検察当局は、早朝に行われた一斉捜査で計９４人が逮捕されたと明かした。
　逮捕者らの中には、マフィア２組織の各首領と公証人１人、複数の起業家に加え、農家らによる助成申請を支援する立場の公務員らが含まれていた。
　現地メディアＲａｉ２４によると、２０１３年以降、シチリア島北東部の山間部の町名にちなみトルトリーチ・マフィアと呼ばれる同組織が、ＥＵから約１０００万ユーロを詐取。
　容疑者らは、実際には地方自治体が所有する土地を自己所有と虚偽の申請を行い、ＥＵからの補助金を受け取っていた。
　詐欺行為の中心的役割を果たしていたのが、ＥＵの農業補助金を農家らに支給する公的機関と、農業補助金申請支援センターの職員らだった。
　警察は、逮捕者のうち４８人は留置施設に収容され、これ以外の容疑者らに対しては自宅軟禁の措置が講じられたとしている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/01/16-12:51）

Italian police said on Wednesday they had dismantled a massive Mafia operation in Sicily which had been defrauding the European Union of millions of euros in funds destined to farmers.
Since 2013, the Tortorici Mafia -- named after a town in the mountainous Nebrodi area in the island's northeast -- had defrauded about 10 million euros ($11 million) from the EU, said prosecutors.
A total of 94 people were arrested in early-morning raids and 151 agricultural businesses tied to Mafia members were seized, authorities said during a press conference in the northeast city of Messina.
Those arrested included the heads of two Mafia families, a notary, entrepreneurs and public administrators tasked with helping farmers access funds.
The clan falsely claimed they owned plots of land that were in reality were owned by the region and local councils, thereby tapping EU funding.
Instead of being usefully employed for the development of agriculture in this area, (funds) were misappropriated and ended up in the hands of the Mafia, Messina's chief prosecutor, Maurizio de Lucia, said on the sidelines of the press conference.
The swindle presented the Mafia with low legal risks, in the face of very high profits, prosecutors wrote in a statement.
Key to the scam were employees of a public agency for agricultural payments, which distributes EU funds to farmers, and those working for assistance centres set up to help farmers access available funding.
In a charge sheet, Judge Sergio Matroeni said the swindle relied on the unprincipled support of white-collar workers who were able to access public funds and knew how to exploit lax controls.
- 'Particularly active' group -
The once-powerful Sicilian Mafia has largely been surpassed in recent years by the notoriously ruthless 'Ndrangheta organised crime group in Calabria as well as the Naples-based Camorra.
Still, prosecutors said the well-connected clan was a particularly active group, heavily involved in drug trafficking and extortion.
Forty-eight of those arrested were sent to jail while the others, including the mayor of Tortorici, were placed under house arrest, authorities said.
Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said the operation underscored the need for careful supervision of the distribution of funds to prevent the Mafia from eluding controls and taking advantage of huge European subsidies to the detriment of honest producers and farmers.
In Brussels, European Commission spokesman Daniel Rosario said the agency had zero tolerance for misuse of funds.
First of all, it's for member states to ensure that solid measures are in place to manage these funds and take necessary measures in case of suspicion, Rosario said.
But despite Wednesday's police operation and dozens like it in recent years, liberating Sicily from the Mafia was unlikely to come purely from judicial proceedings, Judge Matroeni wrote.
The measures do not stop a world reconciled to the Mafia.