The financial police of the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza of Naples, following investigation activities coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Nola, have executed a preventive seizure order against four joint-stock companies, operating in the Neapolitan hinterland, up to a total value of 5.581.222 euros.
The investigative activities, started in April 2021, allowed to reconstruct a huge tax fraud based on the importation from abroad of electronic components (batteries, photographic film, smoking articles and electrical cables) and on the failure to pay VAT.
In particular, the Guardia di Finanza of the Casalnuovo di Napoli Company, through the execution of financial investigations, the analysis of transport documents and the collection of testimonial information, identified, in the Nola area, three “shell” companies that were found to be importing goods into Italian territory without paying VAT, to then resell them below cost to a fourth company, actually operating, which in turn sold the products to the final recipients.
The fraudulent mechanism, commonly known as “carousel fraud”, was implemented by the four legal representatives of the companies, investigated for the crimes of issuing and using invoices for non-existent transactions, and led to VAT evasion of over 5,5 million euros, to the detriment of the treasury.
Following the investigations, the GIP at the Court of Nola, therefore, issued a preventive seizure order aimed at seizing money for a value equal to the amount of VAT evaded by each of the companies involved, ordering, at the same time, in the event of unavailability of money by the corporate groups, the seizure of assets, for an equivalent value, attributable to the four defendants.
During the operations, cash, 3 buildings, 4 lands, 5 gold bars and a watch of considerable value were seized.
Today's precautionary measure, issued by the GIP of the Court of Nola, at the request of the local Public Prosecutor's Office, intervenes in the preliminary investigation phase and is based on provisional charges, supported by serious evidence of guilt, which will in any case have to be confirmed in the trial and in the subsequent levels of judgment.
Article published on November 3, 2023 - 09:47
