The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has indicted two people in Poland over an alleged attempt to obtain €3.3 million in EU-backed funding for nurseries using forged property documents.
The indictment was filed on September 8, 2026, at the Circuit Court in Katowice. According to the EPPO, the two suspects acted together through a number of companies they represented and submitted 15 applications for subsidies to establish nurseries in locations across Poland. The applications sought a total of €3,333,407, or about PLN 14.3 million, under the Maluch+ (“Toddler+”) programme. The funding was co-financed by the European Social Fund+ under the 2021-2027 financial framework and Poland’s state budget.
Applications were submitted online to authorities in six Polish voivodeships: Silesian, Pomeranian, Warmian-Masurian, Lublin, Lesser Poland and Greater Poland. When financing institutions requested evidence that the applicants had legal rights to the premises where the nurseries were to operate, the suspects provided lease agreements. The applications were subsequently approved. However, investigators later determined that the lease agreements were allegedly falsified and that the suspects had neither ownership rights nor other legal rights to properties at the stated locations.
The planned payments were halted after police alerted the financing institutions that the documents might have been forged. The subsequent investigation confirmed that the contracts were fraudulent, preventing the funds from being disbursed. The suspects face 15 alleged offences involving document falsification, making false statements to financing authorities and attempted fraud. If convicted, they could receive prison sentences ranging from six months to 10 years. The investigation was conducted by the Katowice Municipal Police under the supervision of the EPPO. Both defendants are presumed innocent unless and until convicted by a Polish court.