Salerno – A precautionary seizure of over €14 million was placed on a Salerno-based company operating in road freight transport. The seizure was carried out by officers from the Salerno Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza, implementing a decree issued by the preliminary investigations judge at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office.
The seizure concerns sums of money and, alternatively, credits held in the tax drawer or other assets held by the company, up to a maximum of €14.168.471,21, corresponding to tax credits deemed non-existent and used to offset tax debts for the years 2022 and 2023.
The investigation, conducted by the Financial Police Unit of the Guardia di Finanza, alleges the crime of undue compensation through the use of fictitious construction tax credits. At the center of attention are a series of transactions for the purchase of tax credits, in second transfer, deriving from construction bonuses, carried out by the company starting in December 2022 and continuing throughout 2023 and 2024.
The credits were allegedly purchased by approximately 90 assignors at a value equal to 60 percent of the face value, generating "various income" for the company amounting to several million euros, which was then recorded in the 2022 and 2023 financial statements. The credits were subsequently used to offset taxes owed to the Treasury.
According to the investigation, the company was aware of the fictitious nature of the credits, especially given the obvious anomalies found among the assignors. These included recently established companies, total tax evaders without tax returns, directors with no construction industry experience—in one case, a woman who allegedly described herself as a "housewife"—and frequent changes in the company's top management around the time of the assignment.
Further critical issues concerned the structure of the transferring companies, often characterized by a single shareholder, minimal share capital, and a number of employees completely inconsistent with the scale of the declared construction work. The technical and accounting documentation was insufficient or irregular and, in some cases, accompanied by falsified identity documents. Some certifications of expense congruity, referring to different companies, appeared identical in terms of both amount and content.
The Salerno Public Prosecutor's Office emphasizes how the use of non-existent credits allowed the company to obtain a twofold advantage: on the one hand, the failure to pay taxes, with direct damage to the Treasury; on the other, the alteration of the operating results, through the realization of fake business profits.
The investigations have uncovered allegations of liability not only against the company's legal representative, but also against the de facto director and the administrative manager, as well as two consultants believed to be involved in the sale and purchase of non-existent construction loans.
Source EDITORIAL TEAM
Comments (1)
The article discusses a seizure of funds that appears to be very large for a Salerno-based company. It's interesting how the Guardia di Finanza found these anomalies, but there are a growing number of similar cases that point to a larger problem.