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June 10, 2025 - 13:40 pm
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June 11, 2025 - 08:57 pm
A sophisticated criminal group based in Padua has been dismantled by the Guardia di Finanza, revealing a vast fraud operation targeting Italian and foreign citizens. The organization, active since at least 2021, is accused of providing false sureties and fraudulently exploiting the Anglo-Saxon legal institution known as "escrow agreements."
The Guardia di Finanza of Padua has carried out eleven precautionary measures, including three arrests in prison, four under house arrest, three orders to remain at home and one order to report to the judicial police. Furthermore, assets worth 3,5 million euros were seized and dozens of searches were carried out in the provinces of Benevento, Bergamo, Cremona, Florence, Foggia, Milan, Padua, Turin and Venice, with the collaboration of other departments of the Corps.
The method used by the group involved the use of an escrow contract, where money or other assets were entrusted to a third-party custodian, the escrow agent, with the obligation to deliver them upon the fulfillment of certain conditions. The investigation began with an extortion complaint filed by one of the main suspects, who was revealed to be one of the alleged instigators of the scam.
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The organization targeted entrepreneurs and investors seeking financing to launch projects, sometimes of considerable value. Using an Anglo-Saxon financial institution with hundreds of millions of dollars in Belgian government bonds, the group offered solvency guarantees to lenders. A lawyer acted as escrow agent, receiving large sums of money as security, which were then transferred to bank accounts in Estonia, Germany, and the United Kingdom, used for money laundering and self-laundering operations.
When depositors began to suspect delays in the collateral, the escrow agent would provide justifications related to alleged legal action or other pretexts to avoid repaying the funds. Victims of the scam also included football clubs seeking collateral for registration in the Lega Pro championship.
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