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REGGIO EMILIA – They moved a river of dirty money – estimated at least 250 million – but they claimed to be unemployed and without property, thus collecting more than 80,000 euros of income or citizenship pension. Nine of the 49 people involved in the investigation “Billions” and considered by the Police and the Financial Police of Reggio Emilia at the top of a criminal association specialized in financial crimes and especially in the offer (for remuneration) of false invoices, requests dishonest businessmen to evade taxes.
An organization that, as emerged from the joint press conference attended by, among others, Reggio’s Chief Prosecutor Marco Mescolini, Quaestor Giuseppe Ferrari and the National Executive of the Police Francesco Messina, head of the Department of Fight against Crime It was vast, powerful and very well structured. In fact, it operated from north to south in 14 Italian regions and abroad, divided into a dozen “cells” (including one from Reggio Emilia and one rooted in the Mantua area) and had connections with the clans of the ‘ Ndrangheta emiliana.
From what is clear in fact, supervising the domes would be a relative of Grande Aracri’s bosses. In addition to the 49 maximum figures, more than 300 people are being investigated, for the same number of charges, including front men and “collectors” who withdrew cash from ATMs in order to recycle it. An accountant, currently not reached by precautionary measures, is also involved, who is criticized for not having denounced some suspicious operations of which he was aware.
“The operation concluded today – says Commissioner Ferrari – is very important because it has prosecuted on a national scale economic crimes such as bankruptcy, false invoicing, bank fraud, money laundering and car laundering, which I believe are the main forms of crime in this province. “In the investigation, Ferrari also notices an element of novelty, considering that, as it can be inferred,” the provision of illegal financial services is not an improvised act, but a structured, consolidated and entrenched criminal phenomenon. “
Therefore, the Commissioner considers the operation “not as a point of arrival but as an intermediate step, which means a qualitative leap in the fight against illegality in Reggio Emilia”. The director of Anticrime Messina speaks of a “pioneering” operation because “the research method used in this case is an innovative method”. That is, the law enforcement action is no longer directed only to counteract the military apparatus of criminal organizations but also monitors the effects and consequences of the activities of these organizations in certain territories where they are now settled, thus revealing others as well. . profiles connected to them “.
Among the seized goods, watches and luxury cars, a gun and then money, a lot of money, more than the admissions of the investigators themselves are usually found in the records of members of criminal organizations. Specifically, around 500,000 euros in cash and around thirty luxury cars were found and seized, including a Ferrari. A light-caliber weapon with a worn serial number was also found, the origin of which is being investigated. The total of seized assets amounts to approximately 24 million, equivalent to the taxes evaded by the businessmen who used the false invoicing “service” made available by the organization, for a total illegal invoicing of 80 million.
Praise of the prefect
The operation also received the applause of the prefect, Iolanda Rolli, who writes: “I applaud the commendable work of the police, committed daily to the front line of the fight against organized crime, and the significant example of collaboration expressed in this circumstance. Operations like this, carried out by the Flying Squad and the Economic and Financial Police Unit of the Guardia di Finanza with competence and professionalism – highlighted the prefect – are a clear demonstration of how the prevention and repression of all criminal phenomena, and particularly those related to the world of economics and finance, it is essential especially today. The need to strengthen the protection of the legal economy, excluding usability spaces that could open up in this difficult context, requires a strong and decisive commitment to guarantee a healthy recovery of the economy. The authoritarian and reassuring presence guaranteed by the State reinforces the trust of the institutions in the citizens ”.
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