Brussels probes alleged cleaning scam at EU buildings

European Union and Belgian anti-fraud officials are investigating a scam that included a multi-million-euro deal and fake invoices for cleaning contracts at the European Commission offices in Brussels.

The EU executive said its anti-fraud office – OLAF – and the Brussels prosecutor's office were pursuing allegations that individuals had siphoned money from the commission by drafting fake contracts with a Belgian cleaning contractor and pocketing the money.

"It is suspected that this contract may have been executed in an irregular manner," said Alessandro Buttice from OLAF, in a statement on Monday (4 June).

He said the scheme had been in place for four years and that the investigation was focusing on individuals and companies outside the EU institutions. However, media reports suggested bureaucrats had also been involved.

"European bureaucrats may have provided false contracts for cleaning services," never carried out by the company, reported Belgian Le Soir newspaper on Saturday (2 June) naming the cleaning company as "Pedus."

Commission spokesman Maximillian Strotmann said the investigators had yet to determine how much money was involved in the case, adding that the commission's annual budget for cleaning services amounted to €500,000.

Officials familiar with the case said the bogus cleaning contracts amounted to as much as €44 million from the four years from 2003 to 2007.

OLAF launched an internal probe back in 2005 after being tipped off by an accountant with the company who was fired after he told his superiors that figures on its books did not match any work carried out by the firm, AFP reports.

The EU anti-fraud office then submitted its investigation to Belgian judicial authorities on 1 March this year.

The commission has a "zero-tolerance policy" towards fraud and mismanagement in its buildings, said commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen. "Protecting taxpayers' money is at the heart of the matter," she added.

In March three Italians - a senior commission official, an assistant at the European Parliament and a businessman - were arrested for alleged corruption involving bribes that included free home renovations in connection with €30 million in contracts of commission buildings in Albania and India.