Police have arrested 22 people and seized luxury items including Cartier jewelry and Porsches obtained through a COVID relief fraud scheme.

       The criminal group made off with ￡515 million (€600 million) in funds meant for small and medium-sized businesses, according to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

       The money was meant to prop up companies during the pandemic-era lockdowns that left many entrepreneurs strapped for ash.

       Instead, prosecutors say the group transferred the money to themselves.

       Among the items seized to satisfy the debt are Lamborghini sports cars, Rolex watches, luxury villas and cryptocurrencies.

       READ MORE: Rishi Sunak's lockdown-easing schemes lost ￡4.5bn to fraud and errors

       Prosecutors say the criminal enterprise worked together to steal large chunks of Italy’s recovery money from 2021 until last year.

       They made up fake documents "to show that the companies were active and profitable, whereas in fact they were non-active, fictitious companies."

       Police conducted dozens of raids on homes and offices across Europe.

       Ultimately, eight people were arrested and 14 were placed on house arrest. One accountant was banned from practising his profession.

       The €600 million in assets were frozen by a pre-trial judge in Italy and recovered by the Venice office of Italy's financial police unit, the Guardia di Finanza.

       Don't miss...

       Long Covid - Groundbreaking earpiece aims to bring relief to chronic sufferers [REPORT]

       GOP says axe Covid funds to fix debt ceiling [INSIGHT]

       UK motorists feel relief as prices crash to ￡75 amid China Covid scare [LATEST]

       The arrests happened in Italy as well as in Austria, Romania and Slovakia in coordination with law enforcement agencies from those countries.