Executive summary

OLAF: detect, investigate, protect

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is a modern investigative body at the service of EU taxpayers. It protects the integrity of the EU single market and the financial interests of the Union.

The OLAF Report 2022 provides insight into the prevailing trends and operations, ranging from the fight against counterfeiting and smuggling to the protection of Recovery and Resilience Facility funding and the capacity building of fraud prevention mechanisms to protect EU funding assisting Ukraine.

In 2022, OLAF identified fraud patterns that included collusion, manipulation of procurement procedures, conflicts of interest, inflated invoices, evasion of customs duties, smuggling and counterfeiting. Meanwhile, the trend in cross border online e-fraud continued. During the COVID-19 pandemic people carried out many aspects of their lives digitally, so too did fraudsters. This trend has continued even since the end of COVID restrictions, which poses new challenges for OLAF such as tracking down key pieces of data and working across boundaries to reconstruct a bigger picture of the fraudulent activity.

2022 was the year when hundreds of billions from the Recovery and Resilience Facility funding began to be disbursed to help Member States recover from the pandemic. OLAF confirmed its determination to play a meaningful role in protecting the EU budget, by providing continuous support and advice to national authorities, putting the special accent on the early detection of irregularities and in investigating them.

As with previous years, OLAF investigated frauds in the area of environment and agriculture. These frauds often took the form of tender manipulation, false accounting and breach of project objectives. OLAF was also active with partners in tackling illicit trade, which damaged the environment or biodiversity. This saw OLAF target the illegal trade in baby glass eels, pesticides and illegal timber. One operation that OLAF was closely involved in identified that an estimated 46% of honey imported into the EU was adulterated with sugar syrups. During the year, OLAF won an award for its role in preventing illegal trade in harmful refrigerated gases.

2022 also saw the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which led to sanctions being imposed by the EU on Russia and its allies. OLAF was tasked with the job of helping to enforce those sanctions. In addition, OLAF have supported the Ukraine’s anti-fraud authorities to ensure better protection of current and future EU funding.

OLAF’s investigative performance in 2022:

OLAF’s fight against counterfeiting and smuggling of dangerous products

In 2022, OLAF co-organised or provided support to 10 joint customs operations in addition to other operational actions with partners. OLAF played a key role providing vital intelligence as well as being able to join up the dots to gain a bigger picture of the fraudulent activities. These actions helped ensure that millions of counterfeit and dangerous items were seized before they could be used. These items included: fake medicines, counterfeit ball bearings and counterfeit and potentially dangerous toys.

OLAF also made significant progress in its efforts to fight the illegal trade in tobacco and alcohol products by helping national authorities seize 531 million illicit cigarettes and 14.7 million litres of illicit wine, beer and spirits.

Contribution to EU policies to fight fraud

In 2022, OLAF was in charge of rolling out the new Union Anti-Fraud Programme, which supports Member States in building up their national anti-fraud capacities. The programme has a budget of €181 million for 2021–2027. During the year, OLAF continued to contribute to the top political priorities of the EU by providing anti-fraud advice to the relevant Commission departments and national authorities. Among other activities, this saw OLAF disseminate a risk framework for the Recovery and Resilience Facility, and provide over 50 fraud awareness-training sessions to Commission departments, agencies and other external partners, including Member States’ authorities.