The Czech Ministry of Finance officials failed to report the results of an audit of EU-backed projects in which it was found that 40 percent of them had been carried out improperly. EU investigators discovered that the results of the audits were systematically falsified to produce a āfailā result of 2 percent or less. The revelation of this fraud is endangering the Czech Republicās ability to use EU funds. The Czech government has tried to wiggle out of the problem by increasing the authority of Ministry of Finance auditors, but EU controllers are now claiming they donāt trust these auditors. Czech officials are refusing to comment on the matter. The EU controllers have focused on programs governed by ministries of industry, environment and regional development.
