This morning the State Police executed in Piacenza and in the provinces of Milan, Pavia, Cremona, Catania, Messina and Trapani, as well as in Sweden and Bulgaria, a decree of seizure of assets issued, pursuant to anti-mafia legislation, by the Court - Prevention Measures Section of Bologna, on a proposal formulated by the Police Commissioner of the Piacenza province, towards an established entrepreneur in the road transport sector, of Sicilian origins, who has been established in the Emilian economic fabric for years. The operation, carried out by the Anti-Crime Division of the Piacenza Police Headquarters with the support of the Central Anti-Crime Service, is part of a broader national strategy aimed at combating the accumulation of proceeds from criminal activities connected to illegal immigration and the exploitation of illegal work .
The ablation measure in question concerns assets, corporate structures and financial relationships for a total estimated value of approximately 12 million euros, attributable directly or through a large group of frontmen to the aforementioned entrepreneur, considered socially dangerous, as he is dedicated to the commission of tax crimes, bankruptcy crimes, falsification of means of payment, immigration and prostitution. Furthermore, the aforementioned, already convicted of aiding and abetting prostitution, in November 2022, avoided the execution of a precautionary custody order in prison issued as part of the Hermes operation, conducted by the Police of State of Piacenza, as it is responsible for aiding and abetting illegal immigration, illicit intermediation of labor and exploitation of labour, as well as crimes against public faith.
In particular, the investigation had made it possible to reveal a real "system", at the top of which was the proposal, aimed at encouraging the illegal entry and exploitation of foreign citizens, of Brazilian, Moldovan and Turkish nationality, on the territory national, who, after the payment of substantial sums of money, were provided with false documents and professional qualification certificates, to be employed as hauliers in the Italian and foreign companies attributable to the entrepreneur, with methods clearly contrasting with the relevant contractual rules and in precarious hygienic-sanitary conditions.
The unfortunate people, after an initial payment of €500,00, received "the declaration of invitation" necessary for entry into Italy. Once they arrived on the national territory, they were accompanied to the headquarters of one of the proposed company, located in Piacenza, where, upon payment of an additional €500,00, they were provided with false documents and then hired as hauliers employed by the proposed party. The cost of each "practice" was between 2.000 and 2.500 euros and was paid through monthly payments of €500,00.
Due to the restrictions on entry into the national territory resulting from the spread of the COVID 19 pandemic, the described illicit system has led to the corporate expansion of the proposed scheme also in other European Union states, in order to direct the illicit recruitment activities mainly on Moldovan and Turkish citizens, who, although employed by a company under Bulgarian law attributable to the proposed party, operated continuously in Italy.
The workers provided their services in absolutely degrading conditions, since the proposed company had adopted inhumane work policies, taking advantage of their state of need. The drivers, in fact, were subjected to grueling work shifts, unable to benefit from daily or weekly rest, forced to drive day and night without adequate rest. In addition to the income received through the exploitation and aiding of illegal immigration, the entrepreneur was able to make further profit by offering housing situations characterized by terrible hygienic-sanitary conditions. Workers, in particular, were guaranteed an overnight stay inside barracks or containers, or even inside the passenger compartment of the heavy vehicles themselves, parked at the proposed haulage company, upon payment of a sum of money equal to € 100 per month.
Today's investigations, in addition to documenting the social danger of the proposed person, whose criminal past spans more than twenty years, have made it possible to shed light on the economic and financial corporate empire created, over time, by the entrepreneur through a plurality of corporate operations such to prevent the direct traceability of the same structures to his person. All this in the face of an overall "declared" income situation of a modest or even inadequate nature, in some cases, even for the simple satisfaction of the primary daily needs of the individual and his family. His strong entrepreneurial skills have allowed him to obtain large profits by breaking the law in all the areas in which he has operated. Since the early 2000s, that is, since it was established in the Piacenza area, the proposed project has seen a sudden surge in income, which has given rise to an unjustified exponential entrepreneurial growth.
The entrepreneur, on the one hand, made extensive and constant use of illicit proceeds to finance, start and acquire the entrepreneurial activities attributable to him - operating in the sectors of road transport, logistics, business services, catering, "red light" shows, horse breeding and real estate - on the other hand, used the same companies as a tool to commit further criminal activities.
In particular, in the years from 2008 to 2015, through its corporate structures, it participated in a complex fraud system which involved the issuing and use of a significant volume of invoices for objectively non-existent operations, the overall amount of which was calculated in around 200 million euros, in order to create huge fictitious VAT credits for the various compliant economic entities. The mechanism consisted in the use of so-called. "paper mill companies", dedicated to issuing false invoices for non-existent operations towards "filter companies", which had the task of issuing further false invoices in turn towards other economic operators, who in conclusion were the real beneficiaries of fraud.
Furthermore, the unhealthy use of the companies' current accounts, expressed in systematic distractive conduct, which in the period 2013-2019 alone reached the overall amount of approximately 5 million euros, allowed the proposed party to have a substantial amount of funds partially used for the realization of real estate and corporate investments, as well as to support expenses related to personal and family maintenance.
With today's provision, the Court - Prevention Measures Section of Bologna, accepting the proposal formulated by the Police Commissioner of Piacenza, ordered the seizure, as they were deemed to be of illicit origin, of all the shares and the entire corporate portfolio of 14 companies, of which one is based in Sweden and one in Bulgaria, 32 properties, including buildings and land, 110 vehicles, including tractors and trailers, and numerous financial relationships, for a total estimated value of approximately 12 million euros.
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