Front men, milk and fruit and vegetables used to launder the clan's money: massive seizure of €1,5 million for two wealthy Roma entrepreneurs

Behind the daily hustle and bustle of the capital's food markets, amidst crates of fruit and cartons of milk, lay not only normal retail trade, but a well-established and efficient laundering system for the capital of organized crime.

The bank was broken by GICO specialists from the Economic and Financial Police Unit of the Guardia di Finanza in Rome. At the request of the Rome Prosecutor's Office, the Court's Preventive Measures Section issued a seizure order for assets worth more than €1,5 million against two Roman entrepreneurs, deemed "socially dangerous."

What betrayed the two businessmen was the classic and never infallible indicator of risk: the clear disproportion between the standard of living they led in luxury and comfort and the paltry income declared to the tax authorities.

The pact with the Camorra and the cover of the shell companies

The core of the investigation reveals a solid business partnership with a powerful clan in the province of Naples. The two entrepreneurs from the capital allegedly placed their structures and expertise at the service of the Campanian mafia bosses, providing them with the ideal cover to conceal and reintroduce illicit capital into the legal economy.

To do so, starting in 2010, the suspects had woven a dense network of shell companies registered under compliant front men. The choice of sectors was not accidental: the fruit and vegetable and dairy trade, markets characterized by a high level of cash flow and sales volumes difficult to track down to the smallest detail.

The strategy of fictitious impoverishment: coffers emptied before the tax authorities

In addition to money laundering, the group had perfected a ruthless system to eliminate its debts to the state. The strategy involved the systematic accumulation of debts owed to the Treasury; however, before the Revenue Agency could initiate forced collection procedures, the company's coffers were systematically drained.

By presenting the companies as empty shells with no assets, the two made any recovery by the state impossible. The evaded and laundered funds were then immediately reinvested in the creation of new corporate structures, restarting the illicit cycle.

The seals on the assets and the judicial phase

The intervention of the Guardia di Finanza led to the seizure of several homes located in the municipality of Rome, a car, and numerous bank accounts, which had already been frozen during the initial investigation phase.

The measure was adopted pursuant to the Anti-Mafia Code, a tool aimed at targeting illicitly accumulated assets to protect free competition and healthy businesses. The proceedings are now in the adversarial phase, during which the defense will be able to present their arguments before the Court rules on the final confiscation to the State.