The Italian finance police visited the offices of the Emilia-Romagna Region, the Directorate General for Agriculture and the via Bologna branch of the CSO for suspected irregularities in the assignment of public funding.
According to some local media, the checks concern the over €3 million paid to the CSO between 2005 and 2014 (€400,000 per year). After some petitions were presented in December 2013, Public Prosecutor Morena Plazzi opened a file against persons unknown.
"The police arrived and my collaborators were really cooperative. An inquiry is under way and it is only fair that the police can investigate. We have always complied with the law to support the structures working in the agricultural sector," stated the chairman of the CSO, Paolo Bruni.
The projects financed according to law 28 concern the legislative observatory of the fruit and vegetable market and the certification systems. Then there are the contributions provided for by Law 16 of 1995 on the promotion of regional products. The charges also concern the costs for the organisation of business trips and fairs abroad.