Un fraudulent system articulated between Slovakia, Hungary, Belgium and Latvia, with only a fictitious passage through Naples, allowed for evasion 100 million euros of VAT on polymers destined for the chemical industries of Piedmont, Lombardy and Tuscany.
The investigation, conducted by Guardia di Finanza of Turin and coordinated by European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), led to the arrest of 13 Guests (6 in prison and 7 under house arrest) and to the registration in the register of suspects of 52 subjects. The preventive seizure, even for equivalent amounts, of assets and financial resources for a total value of 100 million euro towards 15 people and 13 companies.
The tax evasion system
According to the investigators' reconstruction, a network of paper companies created by suspects residing between Naples, Casalnuovo, Casoria and Massa di Somma was used to transit, only on paper, polymers purchased from Eastern Europe. The mechanism allowed companies in Central and Northern Europe to save on VAT payments. The turnover, between 2018 and 2023, amounts to 500 million euro, with invoices for non-existent transactions.
The failure to pay VAT occurred precisely in the "filter" companies of the Naples area, managed by figurehead, lacking operational structures and personnel, but capable of moving large sums, increasing the profits of the final companies.
International operation and arrests
The investigation saw the cooperation of the police forces Slovak, Belgian, Latvian and Hungarian, who yesterday carried out searches and seizures abroad. In Italy, approximately 100 financiers of the PEF Nucleus of Turin, with the support of Special Unit for Privacy and Technological Fraud and Provincial Command of Naples, carried out the arrests and searches, with the help of “cash dog” canine units for the search for cash.
The precautionary custody order, issued by the GIP of the Court of Nola, charges the defendants with the crimes of criminal association, VAT fraud, issuing and use of false invoices, failure to declare and undue tax compensations. The investigation confirms the crucial role of Neapolitan companies in the fraudulent mechanism, a system that has damaged the Italian State and the European Union for a record amount.
The article reports a complicated situation regarding tax evasion that has affected several countries. It is important to know how fraudulent schemes are created and managed, but it remains difficult to understand how to prevent such acts in the future.