Fraud on Covid compensation and company bankruptcy: 3 investigated

In recent days, preliminary investigations were concluded, conducted by the Finance Police of the Provincial Command of Padua under the direction of the local Public Prosecutor's Office, against three people.

All investigated, jointly and in various capacities, in relation to tax, bankruptcy and corporate crimes and to the hypothesis of aggravated fraud for the obtaining of public funds, in their capacity as de facto and de jure directors of a company operating in the province of Padua in the sector of breeding and trading of cattle and slaughter meat.

Specifically, the investigative activities of the Guardia di Finanza of the Este Company, which lasted over a year, began with a tax audit of the company in question, which resulted in a proposal for the recovery of over €6 million in unpaid taxes.

Furthermore, during the inspection, further investigations were conducted into three loans, totaling €200, provided as part of measures to support the economy, which was hit by the crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.

In particular, it was found that the company in question, believed to lack any corporate structure, initially benefited from the contributions provided for by the so-called "Relaunch Decree" and, following the introduction of new measures aimed at supporting certain economic categories, the so-called "Ristori Decree" and the "Christmas Decree," it allegedly simulated operating a restaurant business, without actually operating it.

These financial resources would not have been used for the purposes envisaged by the emergency legislation, but, after having been unduly received, would have been entirely transferred, via bank transfers, to current accounts located in Lithuania and Poland.

During further investigations into the economic entity, it was found that the shares of this company were sold in 2018 by the previous partners to a different individual, who also became the legal representative and was considered a mere front man for two brothers from Campania.

Starting that year, the three defendants apparently initially strengthened the company's financial position by increasing its share capital from €10 to €750 using available reserves deemed fictitious, with the sole purpose of projecting a prosperous image to the market and credit institutions. They subsequently placed the company in a tax evasion scheme designed to benefit numerous companies based in the province of Naples.

In fact, according to the alleged "carousel fraud" scheme, the economic entity would have been interposed, in the capacity of a "shell company," in the purchase and sale transactions of products originating from the European Union, subject to a specific VAT regime, facilitating the evasion of the aforementioned tax, which was systematically not paid upon subsequent sale to the final purchaser in Italy, who nevertheless acquired the right to the deduction.

The reconstructed sales, attributable to this mechanism, amounted to over €3 million. The irregularities described above also contributed to the company's collapse, which was subsequently declared bankrupt.

Specifically, the misappropriation of assets and valuables to the detriment of creditors was alleged, as 13 cars leased or rented to the insolvent company and financial assets totaling nearly €195 were reportedly not found. These assets were partly transferred to foreign bank accounts, partly used to pay expenses unrelated to the company's business, or used to pay taxes owed by third parties.

The directors also allegedly failed to maintain the required accounting records, making it more difficult to reconstruct these transactions. The analysis of all the investigative evidence gathered, acquired through bank checks and statements from persons informed of the facts, allowed the Judicial Authority to formulate the charges described above against two de facto directors and one de jure director.