OLAF welcomes new Director-General Petr Klement

Press release no 3/2026
PDF version

The European Anti-Fraud Office’s (OLAF) new Director-General Petr Klement starts his role today. Mr Klement, a Czech prosecutor with over two decades of experience in combating economic and financial crimes embarks on a seven-year non-renewable mandate to lead OLAF on its mission to protect the financial interests of the European Union.  

Mr Klement brings to OLAF extensive experience at national and European level. Prior to joining OLAF, he served as Deputy European Chief Prosecutor and European Prosecutor for Czechia at the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) where he dealt with complex cross-border fraud, corruption and money laundering affecting the EU budget. Before that, he held a number of senior positions within the Czech Public Prosecution Service, including Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO), specialising in serious economic crimes, cybercrime and combating the financing of terrorism.

His career includes international assignments with Eurojust, the EU Rule of Law Mission in North Kosovo (EULEX) and an EU pre-accession assistance project in Albania, giving him a deep understanding of judicial cooperation and capacity building across Europe. From 2017-2020 Mr Klement was also a member of OLAF’s Supervisory Committee, providing him with direct insight into the Office’s investigative work, governance and challenges. 

As he assumes his office, Mr Klement does so at an important juncture for EU anti-fraud policy. The forthcoming revision of the EU Anti-Fraud Architecture is set to redefine how prevention, detection and enforcement interact across the Union and to further clarify the complementary roles of OLAF, the EPPO and other anti-fraud actors. Against this backdrop, his experience is expected to strengthen OLAF’s contribution to a more coherent and effective system for protecting the EU budget. 

On his first day in office, Mr Klement pays tribute to the people behind OLAF work. “OLAF has built a strong reputation thanks to the commitment and expertise of its staff and the close cooperation with partners in Member States and EU institutions,” he said. “They do an excellent job every day to protect the EU’s financial interest. I want to build on this strong foundation, support our teams in their work and to further strengthen cooperation so that OLAF can continue to deliver concrete results for European citizens.”

Detailing more on his vision, Mr Klement added: “My ambition is to build on this solid foundation and to further consolidate OLAF as a modern, effective and respective institution, able to safeguard the EU budget, ensure that its recommendations are followed and help secure the recovery of funds lost to wrongdoing. As Director-General, my role will be to align the organisation and its structures around these common objectives.”

OLAF mission, mandate and competences:

OLAF’s mission is to detect, investigate and stop wrongdoings related to EU funds.

OLAF fulfils its mission by:

• carrying out independent investigations into fraud and corruption involving EU funds, so as to ensure that all EU taxpayers’ money reaches projects that can create jobs and growth in Europe;
• contributing to strengthening citizens’ trust in the EU Institutions by investigating serious misconduct by EU staff and members of the EU Institutions;
• developing a sound EU anti-fraud policy.

In its independent investigative function, OLAF can investigate matters relating to fraud, corruption and other offences affecting the EU financial interests concerning:

• all EU expenditure: the main spending categories are Structural Funds, agricultural policy and rural development funds, direct expenditure and external aid;
• some areas of EU revenue, mainly customs duties;
• suspicions of serious misconduct by EU staff and members of the EU institutions.

Once OLAF has completed its investigation, it is for the competent EU and national authorities to examine and decide on the follow-up of OLAF’s recommendations. All persons concerned are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a competent national or EU court of law.

For further details:

Pierluigi CATERINO
Spokesperson
European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)
Phone: +32(0)2 29-52335  
Email: olaf-mediaec [dot] europa [dot] eu (olaf-media[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)
https://anti-fraud.ec.europa.eu
LinkedIn: European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)
X: x.com/EUAntiFraud
Bluesky: euantifraud.bsky.social