At the request of EPPO Turin, Italy's Guardia di Finanza carried out a preventive seizure of nearly €1.98 million in bank balances, properties, vehicles and shares linked to an alleged scheme that used sham companies and falsified accounts to obtain Recovery & Resilience Facility funds and tax credits. EPPO said the action is part of an ongoing investigation into systematic misuse of public funds.

In an action tied to operation 'Nuovi Orizzonti,' the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) in Turin requested and secured preventive seizure measures from Italy's Guardia di Finanza on March 5–6, 2026, targeting assets linked to an alleged organised scheme to defraud EU Recovery & Resilience Facility (RRF) funds. Authorities froze nearly €1.98 million in bank account balances and seized properties, vehicles and corporate shares they say were procured or used in a system of sham companies and falsified accounting records designed to obtain recovery grants and tax credits for nonexistent energy‑efficiency projects. EPPO described the operation as part of a broader probe into systematic misuse of public funds and emphasised that suspects are presumed innocent pending judicial determination. Investigators will continue forensic accounting, corporate ownership tracing and cross‑border cooperation to identify beneficiaries and recover misallocated public resources. The measure aims both to preserve assets for potential restitution and to prevent further dissipation while criminal proceedings advance in Italian courts.