“The suspects are formally accused of submitting false data and concealing substantial information,” the EPPO added in a press release, while not specifying the names of anyone involved.
Czech authorities seized real estate of the company to compensate for the damage to the national budget, national anti-corruption police said in a statement.
In a striking development, Czech media reported Friday afternoon that the case is related to Penam, a baking business from the Agrofert conglomerate, which was controlled by billionaire agriculture tycoon and former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.
The Penam company received €3.9 million in subsidies in 2018 for the innovative line for toast production, which an Agrofert spokesman told the Czech News Agency on Friday it had received “in accordance with law and subsidy rules.”
However, in 2022, the Czech industry ministry announced it would withdraw the subsidy from Penam, after it received the results of a European Commission audit.
The Commission said that the “innovative” new toast production line did not qualify for funds for innovation, since the same line was already in use at another Agrofert bakery.
