OLAF’s investigative performance in 2023
During 2023 OLAF boasted a strong investigative performance. The Office received and analysed 3548 pieces of new information coming from private and public sources, as well as from OLAF's own information. 1178 selections were completed, leading to 190 new investigative cases being opened. A total of 265 investigations were successfully concluded during the year, leading to OLAF issuing 309 financial, judicial, disciplinary and administrative recommendations to competent authorities at EU and national level.
The majority of these recommendations concerned the recovery of EU funds by the relevant authorities at EU and Member State level which amounted to over one billion euro. A detailed presentation of these and other performance indicators can be found in the statistical annex of this report.
OLAF worked with a number of organizations at both an EU and global level. Cooperation is a strong aspect of our work that runs throughout OLAF. This report contains many examples of successful results achieved through close collaboration alongside a range of anti-fraud actors.
Combatting fraud: the main trends in 2023
Each year, OLAF identifies the main trends in fraud activity across the EU and beyond. Many of these trends are repeated from year to year. In 2023, OLAF investigated allegations and instances of collusion, manipulation of procurement procedures, conflicts of interest, inflated invoices, evasion of customs duties, smuggling and counterfeiting.
Fraudsters can quickly move across borders and jurisdictions, relocate their activities and break them up in tiny pieces that make it very hard for public authorities working in their national jurisdictions to detect and to understand. One important trend of the last couple of years, which was very visible in 2023, is the use of administrative violations, preferably in artificially created cross-border situations, with the aim to defraud the EU budget without being detected. This worrying trend can only be combatted effectively with the intervention of OLAF as a cross-border administrative investigative body.
A trend that continued to grow in 2023 was complex frauds taking place online and across multiple jurisdictions. This rise in fraud mirrors the rise of the digital usage across the world and since the COVID-19 pandemic the trend has intensified. Key to solving these crimes is the use of data. That sees OLAF's analysts and investigators sifting through thousands of pieces of data to help join the dots to solve the crime.
The operational experience gained in the conduct of investigations in third countries has shown, beside the classic instances of fraud, a noteworthy increase of investigations concerning double funding. In particular, the detected mechanism consists in the submission of cost claims for experts who are supposedly to work 100% of their time on the EU funded project but are in fact equally employed simultaneously by a number of other donors.
This trend has pushed the Office to fostering and streamlining communication with many international donors. Particular efforts were made to favour the exchange of information with Member States’ development and cooperation agencies, as well with a number of International Non-Governmental Organizations.
In addition, OLAF has also created a secure forum for the exchange of operational information with a restricted number of major international donors active in Ukraine.
OLAF investigations broadly fall into three categories: investigating frauds against EU expenditure (such as EU cohesion, agricultural and direct management funds); revenue (such as customs duties) and internal investigations, involving staff and/or members in EU institutions, offices, bodies or agencies. What follows are examples of OLAF's activities in each of these categories that took place or were concluded in 2023.