European officials have uncovered a huge fraud network involving research projects, which may affect how the European Union provides money for research. Last month, European Union and Italian authorities announced that Italian officials had concluded a criminal investigation into fraud connected to research activities financed by the European Commission. In a statement, the EU’s anti-fraud office said that networks of companies in several of the bloc’s 27 member states were suspected of claiming reimbursements on nonexistent expenses and using “fictitious companies as partners or subcontractors of research-project consortia,” but that the fraud had been eliminated. According to Nature, European and Italian authorities are now prosecuting people involved in the crime who are accused of netting some £50-million, or $72-million, and investigations are still being conducted in France, Greece, Austria, Sweden, Slovenia, Poland, and the United Kingdom.

Nature reports that some European officials worry that possible new measures to contend with fraud will lead to greater bureaucracy at a time when the European Commission is working to streamline its research-grant processes.