Fake Surety Bonds in Public Procurement: Controls, Liability, and Risks for Officials

A fake surety bond in public procurement is a guarantee that appears valid on paper but, in reality, was never issued by the indicated insurance company, or has been altered or counterfeited. In these cases, the surety bond guarantees nothing and does not protect the public entity from any financial risk.

What happens if a surety bond is fake?

If a surety bond is fake, the public entity remains financially exposed. The sums advanced or guaranteed cannot be recovered through the policy, generating a loss of public funds (danno erariale). The surety bond, despite being materially present, is legally non-existent.

Who is responsible if a public entity accepts an invalid surety bond?

Responsibility falls on the official who accepted the surety bond, specifically on the RUP (Sole Project Manager) or the executive in charge of the procedure. Responsibility cannot be offloaded to other departments, internal practices, or merely the formal existence of the insurance company.

Must the RUP perform only a formal check or also a merit-based check of the bond?

The RUP must perform a substantive check of the surety bond. It is not sufficient to verify that the company is registered in official lists. It is necessary to ascertain that the bond was actually issued, that the data is correct, and that the company confirms the existence of the guarantee.

Who is the RUP?

The RUP is the Sole Project Manager (Responsabile Unico del Procedimento).

Simply put, the RUP is the person who follows a public contract from start to finish and is the main reference point for everything that happens in that procedure.

Imagine a contract as a journey.
The RUP is the driver: they decide the route, check that everything proceeds correctly, and answer for it if something goes wrong.

What the RUP actually does

The RUP is the public official who:

Starts and manages the tender procedure.
Checks the documents submitted by companies.
Verifies requirements, guarantees, and surety bonds.
Authorizes payments and advances.
Supervises the execution of the contract.

In practice, nothing important in a contract passes without the RUP.

Why the RUP is so important regarding surety bonds

When a company presents an insurance surety bond, the RUP has the duty to:

Check that the surety bond is valid.
Verify that it is not a fake or never-issued bond.
Ensure that the guarantee truly covers the public entity.

It is not enough to look at the document.
The RUP must perform a real and concrete check, not just a formal one.

The key point to remember

The RUP is not a simple paper-pusher. It is a role of personal responsibility.

If a surety bond turns out to be fake and checks were not done properly, responsibility can fall directly on the RUP, even before the Court of Auditors.

Said in a single, very clear sentence:

The RUP is the figure who must ensure that everything is done right.
If something doesn’t work, they are the first to answer for it.

Is it enough to verify that the company is registered in the official IVASS lists?

No, it is not enough. Verifying the company’s registration is only a preliminary check. Case law clarifies that the obligation to verify also concerns the authenticity and concrete validity of the submitted insurance surety bond.

Can the Court of Auditors condemn an official for a fake surety bond?

Yes. The Court of Auditors can condemn the official for loss of public funds (danno erariale) when it ascertains that checks on the surety bond were omitted or carried out only formally.
Liability remains even if the damage is only partially recovered.

What does “substantive control” of the surety bond mean?

Substantive control means verifying that the surety bond is not only formally correct but also really existing. It means checking the actual issuance of the policy, the correspondence of data, the validity of the signature, and obtaining direct confirmation from the real insurance company.

Can I be condemned even if I didn’t know the surety bond was fake?

Yes. Ignorance does not exclude liability when the official had a duty to check. If there were warning signs or if the phenomenon of counterfeit bonds was known, failing to check can constitute gross negligence.

Can I be condemned even if I claim I was misled by the intermediary who presented the bond?

Yes. You can be condemned even if you say you were induced into error by the intermediary who presented the surety bond. Let me explain simply, without beating around the bush.

The central point: who has the duty to check

For the Court of Auditors, the duty of control does not belong to the intermediary, but to the public official who accepts the surety bond. This applies in particular to the RUP and the executives responsible for the procedure.

The intermediary can:

• Present the bond.
• Explain the product.
• Act as a liaison.

But they do not replace your obligation to verify.

“He misled me”: why it’s not enough as a defense

Saying “I was misled” does not automatically make you safe.

According to case law:

• Blind reliance on the intermediary does not exclude liability.
• Error is excusable only if it was unavoidable with normal checks.
• If there were warning signs, the error becomes gross negligence.

Translated directly:
If you could have checked and didn’t, the responsibility remains yours.

When the intermediary DOES NOT save you from condemnation

You can be condemned if:

• You did not verify that the bond was actually issued.
• You limited yourself to a check that was only formal.
• You accepted a bond with evident errors.
• The phenomenon of fake bonds was already known.
• You did not perform minimal verifications with the insurance company.

In these cases, saying “the intermediary gave it to me” is not a valid justification.

When the error might mitigate (but not eliminate) liability

Inducement into error may only affect:

• The measure of the damage.
• The possible application of the “reductive power” (reduction of the fine).

But be careful:
This does not cancel the guilt; it may only reduce the compensation amount.

This is exactly what often happens in sentences:
The liability remains, only the figure changes.

The principle you must remember

The Court of Auditors reasons like this:

The public official is the final guarantor of the correctness of the act.
Whoever signs and accepts a surety bond must verify it.
The intermediary does not assume responsibility in their place.

Said even more clearly:

If the surety bond is fake, and you could have discovered it with normal checks, the responsibility does not shift to the person who handed it to you.

Yes, you can be condemned even if you claim to have been misled by the intermediary, if:

• You did not perform substantive checks.
• You underestimated evident signals.
• You trusted without verifying.

And this is why checking surety bonds is not a formality, but a personal and patrimonial responsibility.

Are there warning signs in a surety bond?

Yes. Errors in data, incorrect regulatory references, unverifiable policy numbers, graphical inconsistencies, or lack of confirmation from the company are all signals that must prompt deeper verification.

If the damage is partially recovered, does the responsibility disappear?

No. Even if the entity manages to recover part of the sums, the official’s responsibility does not vanish. The recovery only affects the final amount of the damage, not the finding of fault.

How much can an unverified surety bond cost personally?

An unverified surety bond can cost the official tens or hundreds of thousands of euros in accounting liability, in addition to proceedings before the Court of Auditors and significant professional consequences.

Surety bonds in public procurement are not an administrative formality. They are a personal and patrimonial responsibility. Those who only check the paper risk paying out of their own pocket. Those who seriously verify surety bonds protect the entity, the procedure, and themselves.

Before accepting a surety bond: we help you not to make mistakes

The problem of fake surety bonds almost always arises before the document is accepted.
Italiafideiussioni.it works precisely on this point.

In practice, we help you to:
Understand what type of surety bond you are receiving.
Distinguish a valid insurance surety bond from one that is only “apparent.”
Recognize risk signals that often escape a hasty check.

We don’t speak theoretically, but concretely, because we deal only with surety bonds, not generic insurance.

During: we help you check for real

The true value of italiafideiussioni.it is this: We help you perform a substantive check, not just a formal one.

This means supporting you in: Verifying if a surety bond is actually issued.
Checking the consistency of the data.
Avoiding invalid, never-issued, or counterfeit bonds.
Understanding if the intermediary is reliable or not.

This is fundamental because, as case law states, responsibility remains with the person who accepts the surety bond.

Italiafideiussioni.it helps you not to stand alone in front of that responsibility.

After: we help you sleep soundly

When a surety bond has been checked well:
You reduce the risk of loss of public funds (danno erariale).
You reduce the risk of gross negligence.
You reduce the risk of future disputes.
You reduce the risk of ending up before the Court of Auditors.

In other words, it protects you professionally.

It does not replace your role, but helps you perform it more safely.

Why it is different from “any intermediary”

Italiafideiussioni.it was not born to “sell a policy.” Nasce per:

• Prevent errors.
• Avoid ghost surety bonds.
• Protect public entities, RUPs, and officials.

Those who work with surety bonds every day immediately recognize what doesn’t add up.
And this is exactly what makes the difference between:
“It seemed fine to me”
and
“I performed all necessary verifications.”

In a single, very clear sentence

Italiafideiussioni.it helps you avoid finding yourself, one day, having to explain why a fake surety bond passed under your watch.

And when talking about personal and patrimonial responsibilities, this is a huge difference.

Call Now for a first free consultation!!