Million-dollar tax scam, Salerno engineer threatened to kill reluctant entrepreneurs

TMillionaire Tax Scam Dismantled: Death Threats to Reluctant Entrepreneurs

FLORENCE – A large-scale operation conducted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office – Anti-Mafia District Directorate of Florence, with the support of the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza of Florence and SCICO (Central Service for the Investigation of Organized Crime), has uncovered a complex tax scam and a criminal organization active in six Italian regions.

Fifteen people were reached by personal precautionary measures (3 in prison and 12 under house arrest), accused to varying degrees of issuing invoices for non-existent transactions, undue compensation and criminal association.

The investigation, meticulous and complex, began in 2020 and led to the hypothesis of the existence of a criminal gang rooted mainly between Florence, Prato and Salerno.

The organization specialized in the systematic acquisition of companies, used to implement undue compensation of tax debts. The fraudulent mechanism was based on the use of fictitious tax credits, linked to non-existent “Research and Development” activities formally provided by “shell companies” – companies without a real operational structure.

A Fraud Organized Down to the Smallest Details: Engineers and Accountants Involved

La fraud was orchestrated with extreme precision, requiring the involvement of not only business figures, but also qualified professionals, including accountants and an engineer. These specialists were essential to making the operations of the companies involved credible and the fraudulent documentation impeccable.

The investigations revealed how the alleged “Research and Development” projects – which ranged from artificial intelligence to blockchain, from holographic projects to biodegradable products – were actually prepared “at the table”.

An engineer from Salerno, an “authoritative” figure and considered the organizer of the association, took care of the drafting of these projects with the aim of giving them a fictitious scientific validity. At the same time, an accountant from Prato was in charge of preparing fictitious balance sheets to ensure that the “start-ups” involved respected the regulatory parameters to obtain tax breaks.

The registration of the companies to front men, who were also given legal representation, had the purpose of shielding the real head of the organization, who already had a criminal record for economic-financial crimes.

The group was led by an engineer from Salerno

What emerges strongly from the investigations is the dangerousness and violence of the organization. The leader and promoter of the association did not hesitate to use coercive methods: he was found to be willing to threaten entrepreneurs with hiring hitmen to kill them if they refused to involve their companies in the fraud scheme. This stratagem allowed him to hide his real connection to the illicit operations, thus avoiding potential precautionary measures against him.

The criminal association was well structured, with logistical bases, defined hierarchical relationships, a conventional language and precise security measures. Among the tasks of the various associates, including accountants and bookkeepers, there were:

The creation of “shell” companies in various sectors (transport, logistics, services, porterage, IT).

The undue compensation of social security contributions and taxes for over 11 million euros, through non-existent tax credits linked to fictitious investments in research and development.

Private violence to gain and maintain control of nominee companies.

The transfer of illicit money also through foreign legal entities (Bulgarian, Czech and Maltese) and fictitious consultancy contracts.

The money transited through the research and development contracts returned to the criminal group through a complex system of payments and further fictitious research or consultancy contracts with Italian and foreign companies, all attributable to the association.

The investigations finally revealed a further profit-making purpose of the organization, linked to the pandemic period. The issuance of false invoices allowed some companies of the group to obtain state economic benefits in the form of tax credits for environmental sanitation activities, as a measure to contain the SARS-COV2 or Covid-19 pandemic.