Alleged mafia members among 91 jailed in Italy over EU subsidies fraud

Sicilian mobsters said to have received more than 5m for farmland that was stolen or non-existent

Judges in Italy have handed down prison sentences to 91 people, including alleged mafia members, following a large-scale EU agricultural subsidies fraud.

According to magistrates in the city of Messina, Sicilian mobsters fraudulently received more than 5m (4.3m) in subsidies between 2010 to 2017, including funds for thousands of hectares of ghost" farmland in the east of the island that was either non-existent, stolen from farmers or owned by the Italian state or regional government.