The Treviso Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) dismantled a criminal group committed serial fraud against leasing companies. The operation, coordinated by the Treviso Public Prosecutor's Office, led to the filing of charges against 30 individuals and the identification of 22 companies with operations in various Italian provinces.
The investigations, which lasted approximately two years, allowed the group's modus operandi to be outlined.
Leasing companies were offered the purchase of an industrial asset, which in reality did not exist. The non-existent asset was then offered for rent to a third party, always found and proposed by the same scammers.
A regular rental contract for the movable property was stipulated between the leasing company and the lessee indicated by the scammers.
The false documentation
The scammers sent false technical documentation to the leasing companies, as well as documentation relating to the transport of the industrial asset, its commissioning and testing.
The leasing contract was not honored or only the first installments were paid by the tenants, who then disappeared without a trace.
The crimes charged to the suspects are criminal association (five of the thirty), fraud aggravated by the abuse of services and violations of tax legislation.
The frauds identified are 18 and mainly concerned the fictitious sale of electricity generators, for an overall damage to the companies lease of approximately one million euros. Other goods targeted by the scam were forklifts, cutting machines and bagging machines.
The investigations allowed the identification and seizure of assets worth approximately 2 million euros.
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