02/04/2026 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 1 April, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in Zlín announced that an entrepreneur in the Czech Republic had been sentenced to six years and six months in prison for subsidy fraud, damaging the EU’s financial interests, harming a creditor and money laundering. The Ostrava Regional Court found that the defendant had improperly obtained €1 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for a data storage project in Moravia-Silesia. According to the judgement, he submitted false documents attesting to non-existent co-financing and fictitious purchases from German and British companies. The funds would in fact have been used to pay off personal and business debts. The court also imposed a six-year ban on participating in subsidy procedures and ordered the confiscation of €1.048 million. The judgement remains subject to appeal. (NP)