Forty-one people under investigation, including 12 foreigners, and 3,2 million euros in assets seized.
This is the outcome of the operation carried out by the Guardia di Finanza of Trento, in collaboration with the Central Organised Crime Investigation Service and the support of the European judicial cooperation body Eurojust and officials of the Europol Agency, as part of investigations delegated by the District Attorney's Office into fraud in the motor fuel sector.
According to the prosecution, they are all responsible for having participated or aided a transnational criminal association dedicated to the commission of the crimes of evading the assessment or payment of excise duty on diesel fuel for motor vehicles.
“The investigations were triggered by the inspection, at the Trento intermodal hub, of an articulated lorry coming from Germany, driven by a Latvian citizen, headed to the province of Foggia, which was formally transporting 26 thousand litres of lubricating oil, which, following specific analyses, turned out to be diesel fuel for motor vehicles. – we read in a note from the Finance Police -.
The subsequent investigations, carried out through interception techniques and numerous observation services, as well as by cross-referencing information acquired through the databases used by the Corps, have allowed the reconstruction of a large and consolidated illicit international traffic of diesel fuel, managed by individuals located in Latvia, Lithuania, Germany and Italy, aimed at introducing and marketing tax-evading energy products in Italy”
The Guardia di Finanza has reconstructed a total of 204 episodes of illicit importation and reconstructed a total of 5 million litres of illegally introduced petroleum product. on the national territory, between 2021 and last year.
“At the head of the criminal association, composed of 5 suspects, was a Lithuanian citizen resident in Germany, who, assisted by a Latvian, manager of a transport company, supplied the energy product to three associates who, in the province of Foggia, acted as wholesalers – the investigators explain -.
During the investigations it emerged that the diesel fuel coming from a storage site located in Germany, near the city of Forst, on the border with Poland, was transported inside plastic cubes, which in turn were loaded onto heavy vehicles of Latvian or Lithuanian nationality, which, travelling along the European motorway network, reached Italy via the Brenner border.
In the last part of the journey, the organization, in order to prevent possible checks before reaching the clandestine warehouses located in the provinces of Foggia, Bari and Barletta-Andria-Trani, also took care of the relay of the trucks".
According to the Finance Police in “storage sites, especially within the main one located in the municipality of Cerignola, the diesel was promptly transferred into tankers for subsequent delivery, throughout the country, to end customers, mainly consisting of 'white pumps', construction companies, transport companies and commercial warehouses.
In order to evade any checks, the national transfer was accompanied by falsified tax documentation issued by two companies based in the provinces of Naples and Foggia".
The execution of the measure, which took place in the provinces of Bari, Foggia, Barletta-Andria-Trani, Naples, Avellino and Salerno as well as in Lithuania and Latvia, allowed the seizure of the active balances of the current accounts of the suspects, valuable real estate, luxury cars, for a value corresponding to the profit of the crime and to also secure a fuel distributor, a clandestine storage site and 48 vehicles for a total value of approximately 3,2 million euros.
During the investigation, over 50 thousand liters of fuel were seized during roadside checks, were assigned to the Trento fire brigade and used to refuel emergency vehicles.
Article published on 9 February 2023 - 13:30
