Bologna – A colossal green illusion, disguised as a golden opportunity in renewables, has revealed itself to be an €80 million scam. The Bologna Financial Police, working in collaboration with the State Police and under the guidance of the local prosecutor's office, have dismantled a transnational criminal network that, through a Ponzi scheme, deceived thousands of savers into investing in non-existent solar panels.
The operation, dubbed "Cagliostro" in homage to the famous 18th-century illusionist, led to the preventive seizure of the website www.voltaiko.com and the freezing of 95 bank accounts linked to the corporate group, leaving approximately 6,000 victims throughout Italy high and dry.
The investigation, coordinated by prosecutor Marco Imperato and conducted by the Metropolitan Operations Unit of the Bologna Guardia di Finanza together with the Emilia-Romagna Cyber Security Operations Center, resulted in ten warrants being issued for the alleged ringleaders and procurers of the scam.
The scheme, worthy of a Hollywood script, exploited the appetite for easy profits in a trendy sector like renewable energy. Potential investors—often vulnerable individuals, retirees, or small savers attracted by eye-catching ads on social media—were offered not the installation of solar panels on their roofs, but the "rental" of virtual systems located in exotic, "high energy productivity" countries, such as African deserts or tropical islands.
In exchange, they promised monthly or quarterly returns in "energy points," a fake digital currency convertible into euros, with annual returns approaching 10-15%.
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The first investors, paid with the money of the newcomers, were persuaded to recruit friends and family, unwittingly turning into a network of procurers. A classic Ponzi scheme, borrowed from the American financier Charles Ponzi in the 20s, which here took on the guise of an "ecological" scam: zero real emissions, just digital smoke and mirrors.
The searches, carried out at dawn in a coordinated nationwide raid, involved Guardia di Finanza units in the provinces of Bologna, Rimini, Modena, Milan, Varese, Arezzo, Frosinone, Teramo, Pescara, and Ragusa. Officers raided homes and offices, seizing an arsenal of evidence: cryptocurrencies hidden in digital wallets, smartphones and computers filled with suspicious chats and transfers, luxury goods such as watches and high-powered cars, hastily melted gold bars, and stacks of documents reconstructing the scam.
The materials found included contact lists and ready-made sales scripts, revealing how the scammers targeted vulnerable individuals: people over 60, the unemployed, or families experiencing financial hardship, contacted via telephone or at promotional events disguised as free seminars on renewable energy.
The estimated investment volume of €80 million—a figure that could rise with further investigations—paints an alarming picture: in a country pushing for green energy to meet EU 2030 targets, renewable energy scams have increased by 30% in the last two years, according to internal law enforcement data.
Now, with the portal shut down and their accounts frozen, the victims' hopes are pinned on the prosecutor's investigation. For many, however, the damage is irreparable: pensions drained, mortgages no longer sustainable, dreams of a "green" future vanished in a click.
Comments (1)
Reading this article makes me think that people are increasingly vulnerable to scams like these. It's incredible how so many people can lose everything so easily just for the sake of quick money, only to end up left with nothing.