The Central Criminal Court of Spain has handed down three convictions for a €3.8 million subsidy fraud involving agricultural funds.

A company and two of its legal representatives were convicted following a trial that came to court following an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Madrid.

The Central Criminal Court of Spain sentenced two of the defendants to one year's imprisonment and a fine of €3 million.

The court also fined the company €3 million and imposed a three-year ban on receiving public subsidies or public funds.

According to the EPPO the company will have to reimburse €2 million in funds "illegitimately obtained, and the company directors were held to be joint and severally liable".

The EPPO, which is the independent public prosecution office of the EU, has detailed that the company in question applied and obtained a subsidy from the Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund (SAGF) for the improvement of its facilities for the production of fruit and vegetables.

"Following this, the defendants also requested a loan from the Catalan Institute of Finance and the Directorate General of Industry, in clear breach of the terms and conditions of the subsidy, which established that the funding could not be cumulated with other grants, " the EPPO stated.

According to the public prosecution office the verdict, which was issued on June 30, 2025, "marks the first judicial decision delivered after a trial in a case investigated by the EPPO in Spain", following a series of prior convictions obtained through plea agreements, and is still subject to appeal.

Meanwhile earlier this month the EPPO in Zagreb, Croatia, filed an indictment against two Croatian citizens on suspicion of fraud involving agricultural subsidies. 

An investigation showed that, between October 2021 and October 2022, one of the defendants - the manager of one company and owner and manager of another - together with the second defendant - the appointed commercial manager of the first company - fraudulently claimed non-refundable subsidies co-financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) to up to 85%.

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