SOFIA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) in Sofia has filed fraud charges against four individuals following an investigation into a project involving the design and construction of signaling and telecommunication systems on the Bulgarian rail network.

The project, which pertained to the railway section between the cities of Plovdiv and Burgas, was valued at over 94.5 million euros (96.371 million U.S. dollars) in European Union (EU) funding, the EPPO said on Monday.

The contract for the project was awarded to a consortium formed by four companies, according to the EPPO.

"Two managers of an Italian company and the manager of a Bulgarian company, both part of the consortium that secured the contract, have been charged with public procurement fraud. A former director of the National Company Railway Infrastructure has also been charged," the EPPO statement read.

The investigation revealed that the legal representatives of the companies in the consortium submitted false information to the National Company Railway Infrastructure to unlawfully obtain EU funds.

"In particular, they claimed that one of the companies had prior experience with Global Systems for Mobile Communication on Railway (GSM-R) and the Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS), qualifications that enabled them to win the tender. However, evidence shows that none of the four companies had the required experience," the EPPO stated.

The former general director of the National Company Railway Infrastructure is alleged to have signed the contract and authorized payments, despite being aware that the information provided was false.

The consortium also submitted a declaration guaranteeing that they would execute the contract without involving subcontractors. However, they later signed a contract with an Austrian subcontractor with expertise in the required work. This subcontractor had been previously excluded from the public procurement procedure for failing to meet the technical requirements, the EPPO noted. Enditem

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