The Italian police announced this Thursday that they had completed an operation against fraud related to the collection of European funds and distribution schemes in the country, although the group operated in several community territories. The intervention resulted in the arrest of 22 people and the seizure of assets, such as mansions and luxury watches, worth more than 600 million euros. Specifically, the network would have taken advantage of European pandemic recovery funds and the generous home improvement programs that Italy launched with that funding from the EU. It was, without a doubt, the largest operation of this type since Brussels began to distribute recovery funds. But what is surprising, given the data from the European Public Prosecutor's Office, is that it is not something strange in Italy, which leads all rankings of fraud with public money.
Italy has for years been a fertile ground for criminal organizations that wanted to take advantage of state and European subsidies. In fact, for decades, the country has had to annually renounce funds due to it, initiatives or major infrastructure works (Rome voluntarily renounced its candidacy for the Olympic Games) as it was not able to guarantee that transfers from Brussels They would not fall into the hands of mafias and criminal organizations. Therefore, when the post-pandemic recovery funds were approved and Italy became the largest beneficiary, slightly ahead of Spain, the majority were extremely happy. But many, especially in the anti-mafia prosecutor's office, frowned.
The transalpine country has already received, between direct aid and advantageous credits, some 102,000 million. And until 2026, the arrival of some 90,000 million more is expected. But beyond being the country that will see the most money enter the coffers of the companies that carry out the projects, it is also the one that has the most open investigations. The European Public Prosecutor's Office (Eppo) has published a document detailing that, as of December 31, 2023, it had opened 206 investigations into possible fraud with PNNR funds, of which 179 directly affected Italy. The prosecutor's office, and some Italian regional administrations, attribute these control problems to the speed and emergency procedures that are being used to take advantage of the funds. But also to a fragile system undermined by corruption for years.
Italy, with one of the highest levels of tax evasion in the European Union, also holds the quantitative record when it comes to funds of all kinds coming from Europe under suspicion. Of the 12,000 million euros that are being investigated or that have already been concluded to have been delivered fraudulently, half correspond to projects by transalpine companies. And of the total of 1,927 open investigations, 618 point to companies or projects within their borders.
The case, although not surprising, confirms all the suspicions and fears of the National Anti-Corruption Authority. Its president, Giuseppe Busia, explained in an interview with La Repubblica that “there is no guarantee that dozens of more scams are not taking place.” “The assault on funds has begun and without adequate controls, our credibility is at risk.”
In the operation announced this Thursday, according to the police report, apartments and mansions, gold and cryptocurrencies, as well as watches, jewelry and cars from luxury brands such as Lamborghini were seized. These would have been obtained through fraud, which basically consisted of obtaining illegal tax credits for the rehabilitation of homes. Of the 22 detainees, 17 were in various places in Italy, two people have also been arrested in Austria and three in Slovakia. But the intervention is not considered closed, since some people allegedly involved in Romania are being searched.
More than 150 agents in Italy alone participated in the operation. The latter were the ones who identified some 100 suspicious operations and discovered a complex network of fictitious companies that also operated in Austria, Slovakia and Romania, as part of a network that profited from money laundering of “important illicit profits”, according to the Finance Guard.
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