To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many cases the European Anti-Fraud Office has investigated since its inception; and how many investigations have resulted in one or more convictions. (277098)

Information on the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)’s operations can be found in its annual reports.

OLAF’s most recent operations report states that

‘A total of 67 actions corresponding to 20 decisions were undertaken for the protection of the EC’s financial interests. A significant proportion of these actions resulted in imprisonments (24). The three other most frequent actions were financial penalties (19), suspended sentences (18) and damages (5). No suspects were acquitted in 2007’

OLAF will also have referred cases to national prosecutors that national authorities may then have taken action on independently.

The full report can be found on OLAF’s website at:

http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/reports/olaf/2007/en.pdf

Reports for previous years’ operations can also be found on the OLAF website at:

http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/reports/olaf_en.html