Casalesi in Tuscany: fake invoices for money laundering
A system of false invoices to reinvest large amounts of money of illicit origin in Tuscany through companies operating in the commercial and real estate sectors. This was discovered in the investigation conducted by the Guardia di Finanza, and coordinated by the DDA of Florence, which today led to the execution of 34 precautionary measures. Among the measures ordered by the investigating judge Federico Zampaoli at the request of the DDA prosecutor Giulio Monferini there are four arrests in prison, 6 house arrests, 9 residence obligations and 15 personal interdiction measures with a ban on carrying out activities related to the exercise of business. Assets worth 8,3 million euros were subjected to preventive seizure.
The crimes contested, to varying degrees, are those of criminal association, money laundering, self-laundering, reinvestment of money, fictitious registration of assets and issuing invoices for non-existent transactions, with the aggravating circumstance of having favored the Camorra association of the Casalesi clan. Illicit acts were also contested to 23 companies. The investigations were triggered by numerous real estate and commercial investments made in 2016 in the province of Siena by two accountants from Campania, supported by a Florentine architect originally from Caserta, believed to be connected to organized crime circles in Campania. The investigations revealed that individuals connected to the clan had reinvested large amounts of money of illicit origin also in the Tuscan territory, through companies in the real estate and commercial sectors.
According to what was stated in the request for precautionary measures drawn up by the DDA and then accepted by the investigating judge of the Florence court, the investigations have allowed to identify "a widespread and deep-rooted social phenomenon, implemented to the detriment of the Treasury" capable of guaranteeing "easy illicit gains through the distortion of the rules of the market and the economy", through the system of false invoicing, considered by investigators to be a typical way of operating of the Casalesi clan. The investigation has sent to prison AE GD; RD; and Guglielmo Di Mauro, known as 'O putecaro', a 48-year-old from Naples.
Instead, Stefano Cicala, a 33-year-old born in Prato and resident in Lucca, was placed under house arrest; Francesco Diana, a 36-year-old resident in the Naples area; AL; Enrico Laudante, a 40-year-old from Caserta; Raffaele Napoletano known as 'O zuoppo', a 44-year-old from Naples; Stefano Ostento, a 51-year-old originally from Puglia but resident in the Pistoia area.
Article published on 20 January 2021 - 20:07
