False drop in turnover from Covid in Pompeii: entrepreneur defrauds the state of 71 thousand euros
An entrepreneur in the horticultural sector of Pompeii was hit by a preventive seizure order for a total of 71 thousand euros. The accusation against him is of undue receipt of public funds, obtained fraudulently by exploiting the funds allocated by the government to counter the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The investigation, conducted by the Group of Financial Police of Torre Annunziata on behalf of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, brought to light a fraud mechanism concocted by the entrepreneur to unduly pocket the non-repayable contributions.
By falsifying data relating to his turnover, the man made people believe that he had suffered a drop in income due to the pandemic, a necessary requirement to access public funding. In this way, he managed to obtain a undue benefit of 71,024 euros.
The execution of the preventive seizure, still ongoing, affected financial assets and movable assets attributable to the suspect and his individual business. The overall value of the seized assets is being quantified.
