Italian police have arrested 30 people accused of operating an underground bank for organized crime from a car-rental business near Milan and seized €21 million, about $23.6 million, in assets that included cash, bank balances, cryptocurrency, boats, jewelry and luxury watches. Italian news agency ANSA reported the development on Wednesday.
Financial police targeted suspects tied to multiple crime groups
The operation was carried out by the Guardia di Finanza, Italy's financial police, under orders from anti-mafia prosecutors in Milan. Investigators targeted suspects linked to the 'Ndrangheta, the Camorra and organized crime groups from Foggia in southern Italy.
Of the 30 people arrested, 16 were taken into custody and 14 were placed under house arrest. The group included two people arrested in Spain and one in Switzerland.
Prosecutors say the network ran from a business in Pero
According to investigators, the operation was based in Pero, on the outskirts of Milan, and was run by three Italians. Prosecutors said two of them were long-standing contacts of 'Ndrangheta clans from Crotone and had already been convicted in earlier mafia investigations. The third was identified as a member of the Camorra's Casalesi clan.
Chinese and Albanian accomplices helped operate the network, prosecutors said.
More than €110 million in false invoices and about €68 million moved abroad
Prosecutors said shell companies issued more than €110 million in invoices for services that were never provided, allowing businesses to lower their tax bills. Those companies paid by bank transfer and then received the money back in cash, minus a commission.
Authorities said the network moved about €68 million abroad. Bloomberg reported that funds collected in the shell companies' accounts were sent to banks in Luxembourg, Lithuania and Germany, then routed through crypto exchanges into wallets controlled by the network. Drug traffickers who handed over cash received crypto or international bank transfers in return, according to the report. The network also handled money stolen from victims of online crypto investment scams.
Case file runs more than 500 pages
The Guardia di Finanza's technology fraud unit supported the investigation. The case is set out in a court order running to more than 500 pages.
Calabrian outlet LaC News24 reported that those arrested include a Guardia di Finanza inspector who was placed under house arrest on corruption charges. Investigators also accused a Milan court employee of leaking information about ongoing investigations. A lawyer and a former member of the financial police were also caught up in the case.
Italian authorities have warned about mafia use of digital assets for years
Italian authorities have for years warned that organized crime is adopting digital assets. In 2021, Italy's Anti-Mafia Investigative Directorate said that 「all criminal organizations, including those of the Mafia type, have an interest in using these instruments for their business」 and described the 'Ndrangheta as 「growing more and more attuned to modern tools like cryptocurrency and the deep web」.
