| Series Title | European Voice |
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| Series Details | Vol.9, No.23, 19.6.03, p2 |
| Publication Date | 19/06/2003 |
| Content Type | News |
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Date: 19/06/03 A GERMAN diplomat was sentenced to three-and-a-half years imprisonment this week for embezzling €3.9 million worth of EU aid to Kosovo. The punishment was handed down by a German court on Monday (16 June) to Joe Trutschler, who had been working for the UN's interim administration in the war-shattered region. Trutschler had been at the centre of a probe by EU anti-fraud office OLAF for several months before handing himself over to a prosecutor's office in Bochum. OLAF had established that Trutschler had lodged EU funds in a Gibraltar bank account. The money had been allocated to import electricity from Bulgaria to Kosovo. The funds should have gone to the Kosovo Electricity Company. Last year Gilbraltar's attorney-general ordered the freezing of Trutschler's bank account. As a result, OLAF succeeded in returning around €3 million of the missing amount to the budget for Kosovo in August 2002. |
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| Subject Categories | Economic and Financial Affairs |
