The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which started operating on 21 June 2021, has opened 576 investigations in its first six months of existence, and 515 of these "were active" on 31 December 2021, state agency Hina said on Friday, citing Vecernji List daily, which cited EPPO.

Eight of the 576 cases – or 1.4 percent of all of them – are related to Croatia, Vecernji said.

The EPPO is an independent body of the European Union responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU, including fraud corruption, money laundering and cross-border VAT fraud. Currently,  22 member countries of the European Union, including Croatia, are participating members of the EPPO.

“EU institutions and bodies, as well as the competent authorities of the 22 member states which joined the EPPO, must report any criminal conduct affecting the EU budget to the EPPO. Individuals can also report alleged cases of fraud and other crimes,” Hina cited the description on EPPO’s website.

According to the estimated damage in the opened cases, Italy with cases accounting for aggregate damage of €1.7 billion tops the ranking. Romania ranks second (€1.3 billion), and Croatia ranks 15th with estimated damage totaling €30.6 million.

Considering the number of opened cases, Italy is again on the top of the ranking, with 120 cases. Bulgaria follows with 105 cases, and Romania ranks third (60 cases). Croatia and Latvia share the 13th position.

With regard to the suspects implicated in these cases, former Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov is the highest-profile suspect for now who is believed to have been engaged in misusing EU funds.

In Croatia, a former minister of EU Finds and Regional Development, Gabrijela Zalac, is the best-known indictee covered by EPPO probes. The investigation was launched by the EPPO following a criminal report filed by the National Police Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime. Zalac, the former head of the Central Finance and Contracting Agency (SAFU) Tomislav Petric, and owners of an IT company, Mladen Simunac and Marko Jukić, are suspected of defrauding the European Union and Croatia of €1.8 million.

Zalac is suspected of rigging the tender to procure an information system for strategic planning and development management, so that companies owned by Simunac and Jukic, would get the contract.