The organization of expert financial brokers based in Portici and Ercolano, busted today by the Naples Financial Police with eight people arrested, offered its approximately 8 clients a package of services to relocate and invest illicit proceeds abroad.
They had 15 employees at their service, thanks to whom they offered assistance to customers both through a telephone switchboard and through an online chat, advertising the services offered on numerous websites and in an ebook.
They also had a vault for cash storage. To hinder the investigation, the suspects used computer and telematic tools to prevent wiretapping.
The investigation, coordinated by the Naples Public Prosecutor's Office, uncovered a money laundering scheme that moved over €2,6 billion between 2018 and 2023. The operation led to the arrest of eight people and the seizure of assets worth over €8 million.
Of the €2,6 billion turnover managed by the criminal organization busted by the Naples Financial Police, €1,5 billion is attributable to Italian clients, according to Colonel Paolo Consiglio, commander of the Naples Financial Police's PEF Unit.
"In fact, 51% of the more than 6 clients," Commander Consiglio explained, "were Italian. The clientele was diverse: there were criminals, some with ties to organized crime, consultants, and professionals—all people," Consiglio explained, "who had money to hide."
Through an electronic money institution in Vilnius, a criminal organization operated an illicit banking business that offered money laundering services to a wide range of clients, attracted by unscrupulous online marketing campaigns. Among the clients of the money laundering operation, dismantled by the Guardia di Finanza (Italian Finance Police), were prominent members of the Casalesi clan and the 'Ndrangheta, as well as professionals such as doctors, veterinarians, and lawyers.
Among the clients is also the Neapolitan entrepreneur Luigi Scavone of Alma spa
Among the clients was the former owner of Alma Spa, Neapolitan entrepreneur Luigi Scavone, convicted of tax evasion. Investigators discovered that Scavone was attempting to hide his enormous wealth, accumulated through defrauding the state, using mechanisms to make it untraceable.
It might interest you
Baroque Naples: Artistic Masterpieces Off the Tourist Track
The Hercules of Civita Giuliana returns home: a fresco stolen years ago has been reassembled.
San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, Carabinieri night patrols: three reported for possession of burglary tools.
Marcianise, weekend of extraordinary checks: four arrests and reports in the area's municipalities.
Particularly interesting is the reflection of Naples prosecutor Nicola Gratteri: "We would not have been able to conduct this particularly sophisticated investigation if the bill currently under discussion had been in force."
Gratteri explained that the decisive factor, in fact, was "the possibility of seizing the phones and networks used to manage the relationships." According to the Naples prosecutor, if the power to seize cell phones had been reserved for judges and not investigators, "this investigation would not have been possible."
All the services offered by the organization:
Shell companies registered under front names
Online checking accounts
Anonymous payment cards
Collection, storage and transportation of cash
The organization had a branched structure in Italy and abroad, with secret offices in Portici and Ercolano, a specialized workforce, and a vault for cash storage.
To hinder the investigations, the suspects used computer and telematic tools to prevent wiretapping.
The operation was conducted in collaboration with the judicial authorities of Latvia and Lithuania, the Public Prosecutor's Office of Lecce, and the Economic and Financial Police Unit of Lecce.
All seized assets
15 properties in Vilnius (including two luxury apartments in the Old Town, two hotels and a bar-restaurant)
4 properties in Riga (including two luxury apartments)
A villa in Ercolano with swimming pool and football field
A property in Portici
A property in Como
A yacht
Previously, the following had already been seized:
Over 700 thousand euros in cash
Cryptocurrency for 1,3 million euros
Luxury goods (watches and jewelry) for 330 thousand euros
EDITORIAL TEAM
Choose the social channel you want to subscribe to