Timiș prefect Cornelia Micicoi resigns after European prosecutors search her home in EU funds fraud probe

The investigation

On the morning of 12 June 2026, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) carried out 11 searches across Timiș county in a case of alleged EU funds fraud. The searches included the home of Cornelia Elena Micicoi, the USR-appointed prefect, as well as the headquarters of a company she previously ran and both her official and personal cars. Prosecutors are looking into whether courses organised under an EU-funded project for disadvantaged people were never actually held. G4Media reported that the suspected damage amounts to €800,000; other sources put the figure at several hundred thousand euros.

Resignation and response

Within hours of the searches, Micicoi announced her resignation on Facebook. She said the decision was hers alone, not prompted by her party leadership. "I have nothing to hide, I am innocent," she wrote, adding that she would not allow the investigation into a past project run by an association she founded to become a problem for the Prefect’s Institution. She stressed she was not the project manager and had not been charged or even summoned as a witness.

“The decision belongs to me and only me. The Prefect’s Institution represents the Romanian government in the territory, not a person.”

She later described the operation as excessive, claiming nothing incriminating was found at her home, and called it a political lynching aimed at discrediting her.

The project under scrutiny

The probe focuses on the project “Servicii de ocupare şi integrare profesională pentru persoane în risc, marginalizate din teritoriul GAL Freidorf,” implemented in 2022–2023 by the Pro Office association. Micicoi said the only issue flagged during implementation was a sum initially deemed ineligible, which was subsequently repaid within the legal deadline. She pointed to verification reports from August 2024 and May 2025 by the Ministry of Investments and European Projects as proof of compliance. The alleged offences under investigation include forming an organised criminal group, forgery, use of forged documents and illegally obtaining EU funds.

Political context

The searches and resignation unfolded during a political crisis in Bucharest. Only hours after Micicoi’s resignation, the USR party led by Dominic Fritz was expected to announce whether it would support a government proposed by premier-designate Eugen Tomac, backed by Nicușor Dan. Micicoi denied that Fritz had advised her to step down, insisting the move was personal. Her departure risks amplifying perceptions of instability around the USR at a sensitive moment for the party.