State Police and Guardia di Finanza. Operation "Pecunia no Limes": offenses in the immigration reception sector, precautionary measures for 8 people and kidnappings for over one million euros
Since the early hours of dawn, the State Police of Frosinone and the soldiers of the Guardia di Finanza of Cassino have been executing an order for the application of precautionary measures, ordered by the GIP of the Court of Cassino, Dr. Salvatore Scalera, against 8 subjects, 3 of whom under house arrest and 5 affected by the ban on entrepreneurial activity.
The investigations of the Cassino PS Commissariat with the support of the Flying Squad of the Frosinone Police Headquarters and the soldiers of the Cassino Finance Police, directed by the Deputy Prosecutor Dr. Emanuele De Franco of the Cassino Public Prosecutor, have allowed to reconstruct multiple offenses committed by a criminal group that managed several cooperatives active in the sector of the Extraordinary Reception Centers (CAS) system for foreign citizens, between the provinces of Frosinone and Caserta.
The checks carried out at the reception facilities revealed numerous irregularities. Foreign citizens lived in cramped, dirty, dilapidated rooms and in poor hygienic conditions, the rooms were overcrowded beyond the limit allowed and even six people were crammed into a few square meters. Furthermore, migrants were not assisted by a sufficient number of operators and did not make good use of health care, psychological support, linguistic and cultural mediation services.
However, from a paper point of view, what was done appeared to be regular, as the suspects falsely declared to the competent Prefectures that the services in favor of the guests were correctly guaranteed, partially managing to receive the expected reimbursements.
In some cases, the cooperatives certified the presence of numerous foreign citizens who had actually moved away from the structures for some time, also going to other States, as emerged from the border controls, in such a way as to receive the daily quota due for the presence on the national territory.
It also emerged that the cooperatives unduly obtained reimbursements from the Prefectures for a greater number of meals than those actually administered to asylum seekers.
The huge profits, the result of the illegal conduct carried out, were transferred through money laundering operations disguised by the use and issuance of invoices for non-existent operations as ascertained by the military of the Cassino Finance Police.
The seizures of current accounts and real estate are in progress for a value of over one million euros, equal to the profit of the crimes charged to the suspects, namely: fraud against the State, fraud in public supplies, self-laundering, issuance and use of invoices for non-existent transactions.
The Guardia di Finanza and the State Police - each integrating into their respective competences - with this operation have carried out an activity that is part of a broader framework of protection of the State budget and of the Local Authorities aimed at combating the waste of public money , of vital importance in this period of economic crisis linked to the pandemic emergency.