CORRUPTION: European Investment Bank and Europol join forces to fight fraud, organised crime – with new AML emphasis on protecting bloc’s €750BN recovery fund
The EU’s most important lender has signed on to an agreement with the bloc’s policing agency in a bid to stamp out fraud and corruption.
It’s a working arrangement intended to foster the exchange of information and expertise between Europol and the European Investment Bank, both agencies said in a joint statement Friday.
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103 arrests and 36 labs dismantled in strike against synthetic drug network
Europol
Between 12 and 17 February 2026, Europol supported law enforcement authorities in Ukraine, Poland, and Moldova in a joint operation against an international criminal network involved in the production and trafficking of synthetic drugs, primarily synthetic cathinones such as alpha-PVP. The action day saw the Ukrainian National Police and the Polish Police Central Bureau of Investigation conducting coordinated checks at approximately 510 locations. Law enforcement officers dismantled 36 illicit production sites and 74 storage facilities for ready-to-distribute drugs. A total of 129 persons faced criminal charges, 103 persons were taken into custody.
Italy: EPPO dismantles criminal group behind €1.4 million agricultural funding fraud
European Public Prosecutor's Office
(Luxembourg, 19 February 2025) – The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Palermo (Italy) has taken down a criminal organisation involved in agricultural funding fraud in Sicily, alleged to have caused an estimated damage of more than €1.4 million. One suspect was arrested this week and five others were put under coercive measures, while assets were also seized.