The director of a cultural association in Alsace, northeastern France, has been convicted of diverting €110,500 in European taxpayer’s money to purchase an apartment for himself.
On March 6, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) announced that the Paris Judicial Court had approved a sentence it proposed a couple of days earlier as part of a plea bargain.
The investigation, spearheaded by the EPPO’s Paris office, was launched following suspicions of abuse of trust and money laundering. The probe was handed over to the National Anti-Fraud Office (ONAF) in Metz.
Relying heavily on funding from the Erasmus+ programme, which accounted for more 80 per cent of its budget, the association in question aimed to support international volunteer-hosting initiatives.
Instead, the director syphoned off a portion of these funds, redirecting them to acquire the property and for his own benefit.
Neither the association or the director were named.
Authorities seized the apartment and the defendant has since reimbursed the full €110,500 purchase price.
Under the plea agreement, the court sentenced the director to six months in prison, suspended, and ordered the confiscation of the seized property and up to half its purchase value. The ruling remains subject to appeal.
Erasmus+, a flagship European Union initiative, supports education, training, youth and sports across Europe, including opportunities for cross-border volunteering. The overall responsibility for the programme’s management, direction and evaluation lies with the European Commission.
It does, though, operate an “indirect management” approach, meaning the programme is run through intermediary organisations rather than being directly administered by the EC.
While this has allowed for flexibility and local adaptation, it has also meant Brussels could pass on responsibility for the outcomes.
When in February last year Brussels Signal asked about a €25,000 grant for a “Dragtivism” project in 2021-2022, where young people between the ages of 16-25 went to a nightclub to experience sexual fetishes, our reporter was referred to the local co-ordinator who said there was a positive evaluation of the project and that it contributed to social inclusion.
The EC has repeatedly been accused of funding organisations linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and other radical organisations via Erasmus+.
The European Commission has suspended funding for a Turkish organisation that was part of the Erasmus+ programme over its views on women, Europe and terror. https://t.co/4RGM0hdcEP
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 27, 2023
