Online investment fraud is rising sharply, with Eurojust taking on three times as many cases compared to five years ago. To prevent investors and savers from further losing large sums of money via online scams, prosecutors are encouraged to quickly start freezing the bank accounts of the criminal networks behind such schemes. Furthermore, much earlier cooperation with their colleagues in other EU Member States or third countries, combined with the rapid involvement of Eurojust and Europol, can lead to prosecuting fraudsters more effectively. These actions are among the recommendations presented in the Eurojust Guidelines on How to Prosecute Investment Fraud, published in July 2021.

Other concrete recommendations provided in the practical guidelines for prosecutors include getting an early insight into the total number of victims to better gauge the scale of the fraud. Moreover, to get justice done, a coordinated approach at national and international level to prevent possible conflicts of jurisdiction is of prime importance.

Eurojust’s assistance may be requested at any stage, by any of the judicial authorities involved. The Agency can organise coordination meetings, finance and assist in the setting up of JITs and facilitate cooperation with non-EU countries. Furthermore, it can set up a coordination centre for any particular case to facilitate the simultaneous execution of measures in multiple countries during an action day.

Fraudsters often devise complex schemes to avoid VAT payments. These schemes can include so-called front companies and fake sales. A particularly good example of Eurojust’s work in this area is the support it provided to a complex Spanish action against large-scale VAT fraud. This was a very successful case set up in record time, thanks to the reactivity and support of all parties involved. Eurojust was able to set up a coordination centre involving an action day only four days after the case’s first coordination meeting took place. The particular success of this action can be attributed to the rapid response and swift collaboration between Eurojust’s National Desks. For example, the rapid information sharing of the Slovak Desk with the Spanish Desk enabled the Spanish authorities to issue an EAW only two hours after the information was shared. This led to the subsequent successful arrest of one of the suspects in the Netherlands.