In the early hours of today, military personnel from the Provincial Commands of Lecce and Naples and from the Special Unit for Revenue Protection and Tax Fraud Repression in Rome are executing numerous personal precautionary custody measures issued by the GIP of the Courts of Lecce and Naples.
The investigations, divided into two interconnected strands, concern a criminal association in Salento dedicated to the sale of false "tax credits", deriving from fictitious "building bonus" practices, and to the laundering of illicit proceeds abroad.
The order being executed concerns 13 individuals (4 in prison and 9 under house arrest) and provides for 25 searches, some of which also abroad (in Lithuania), and the preventive seizure of approximately 3,9 million euros, in addition to the 20 million already seized during the investigations.
Today's operation, called "EASY BONUS", is the result of two years of investigations conducted by the PEF Unit (GICO) of Lecce and coordinated by the Salento Public Prosecutor's Office.
This is an international investigation, the result of collaboration between the Italian Financial Intelligence Unit, the Lithuanian Financial Intelligence Unit and the Guardia di Finanza, into large sums of money transferred to that country from Italian postal accounts.
The activities allowed to identify 71 beneficiaries of fraudulent “building bonuses”, who transferred most of the sums abroad after the transfer of the tax credit to Poste Italiane.
The investigations revealed the existence of a criminal organization led by the owner of a consulting firm in the province of Lecce, an expert in banking, financial and fiscal mechanisms.
After identifying the beneficiaries of the building bonuses, the organization recorded the digital signatures, entered the requests on the portal of the Revenue Agency and opened current accounts at Poste Italiane. The capital was then transferred abroad and laundered through complicated mechanisms.
Investigative activities revealed links between the organization and local crime. Relations with the leader of the organization deteriorated, culminating in the burning of his home and that of his parents.
During the investigations, approximately 100 searches and numerous preventive seizures were carried out against the beneficiaries of the building bonuses.
Thanks to the work of the Lecce Prosecutor's Office and the international investigative team, it was possible to recover 3,2 million euros seized in Lithuania.
At the same time, the PEF Unit of Naples is carrying out personal coercive measures and preventive seizures for 25 million euros, also abroad.
The operations involve over 200 financial police officers, with air support and trained dogs, and are conducted in close collaboration with local authorities.
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