Naples: Convictions Arrive for the Ponticelli Counterfeiters

Naples – The first-degree trial for the gang that was dismantled in May 2024 while operating a veritable clandestine mint in the heart of the eastern suburbs concluded with a verdict that essentially upheld the prosecution's case and the Guardia di Finanza. Yesterday morning, before the Criminal Section, Panel A of the Nola Court, the trial concluded, which saw the group of counterfeiters led by Alfredo Muoio.

The panel, presided over by Judge Agnese Di Iorio, found the charges of criminal conspiracy to counterfeit coins and spend them on a potential treasure trove of approximately 48 million euros in counterfeit coins ready to flood the market.

The counterfeit factory was discovered by the Guardia di Finanza (Fiamme Gialle) in an industrial warehouse in Ponticelli, rented by a remediation company (not involved in the investigation). Here, the counterfeiting "workaholics" worked at a relentless pace, 24 hours a day, sleeping and eating on site, thanks to a "vivandiere" (a sutler) who acted as their contact with the outside world.

Inside, sophisticated machinery and approximately 80,000 sheets of paper were found, each containing twelve nearly finished 50-euro notes: all that was missing was the final cut for the silver vertical band. A reproduction attempt so obsessive it brought to mind the infamous "Honest Gang," but with far more professional equipment and nearly indistinguishable banknotes.

The Court of Nola issued the following sentences:

Alfredo Muoio (alleged leader of the organization): 4 years in prison.

Alessio Muoio, Michele Rivieccio, Ermani Vassallo: 3 years and 6 months of imprisonment each.

Antonio Papaccio, Alessandro Aprea: 6 months of imprisonment (continued with another sentence).

The only marginal note of the verdict is the full acquittal, for not having committed the crime, of Antonio PiscopoThe young man, son of the better-known Luigi Piscopo, known as "the fool," a leading figure in the Ponticelli underworld, was exonerated thanks to the defense led by lawyer Giuseppe Perfetto.