Fake organic oil and attempted extortion, former mayor of Amantea Franco La Rupa and his son arrested

Cosenza. They were marketing fake organic oil obtained with chemical and phytosanitary products and reinvesting the proceeds of the fraud to purchase properties that were the subject of a bankruptcy auction and to finance a reception center for immigrants. For this reason, the former regional councilor of Calabria and former mayor of Amantea, Franco La Rupa and his son were arrested by the Guardia di Finanza of Cosenza as part of an investigation coordinated by the Paola Public Prosecutor's Office, in execution of a precautionary custody order in prison and a decree of preventive seizure issued by the investigating judge of the Paola Court. The two are being investigated for the crimes of aggravated fraud for the obtaining of public funds, fraud in the exercise of commerce, fraudulent transfer of assets, self-laundering, slander and attempted extortion. In particular, the investigation activity, carried out by the Fiamme Gialle of the Paola Company and the Tenenza of Amantea, has allowed to collect a serious circumstantial framework against the suspects, father and son, both residents of Amantea, who, in the exercise of an agricultural company, marketed 41.860 kilos of oil declared to be from organic farming, and instead obtained with the use of fertilizers and pesticides prohibited in this type of production. The suspects, through false certifications and hiding the purchase invoices of the prohibited chemical products, deceived the certification body of the Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policies, obtaining the release of the agro-organic operator certificate, thanks to which they could place on the market the fake organic oil that earned them more than 150.000 euros, as well as receiving specific contributions from the European Union and the Calabria Region for an amount of approximately 114.000 euros. The profit obtained, with a series of financial transactions cleverly conceived to hide its origin, was then reinvested in the purchase of a property in the municipality of Serra d'Aiello in the province of Cosenza, which took place in the context of a bankruptcy auction. The investigations conducted, moreover, allowed to trace the de facto ownership of both the agricultural company and the properties subsequently acquired, to the former regional councilor, already hit in the past by a measure of patrimonial prevention. In particular, 50% of a real estate complex in Serra d'Aiello was seized as well as money and other assets in the possession of the suspects.