We receive and publish the press release from the GUARDIA DI FINANCA
Turin Provincial Command.
“THE soldiers of the Provincial Commands of the Guardia di Finanza of Matera and Turin are giving execution of an order for the application of personal precautionary measures and real issued by the Judge for the preliminary investigations in Turin, at the request of the local European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), against 14 subjects, and preventive seizure of profits, for over 15 million eurosFor criminal conspiracy to commit VAT fraud, at the fraudulent evasion of the payment of consumption tax and self-laundering.
The investigations, carried out by the Economic-Financial Police Units of Turin and Matera, concerned subjects operating on the national territory and in Estonia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Belgium who, through a branched criminal network, introduced and marketed large quantities of lubricating oils for vehicles (cars and trucks), intended for sale to consumers, with “under the table” payments, implementing multiple strategies aimed at evading VAT and the required national tax, both through the interposition of “paper mill” companies (private of a real operational structure) on which to burden the taxes due, systematically not paid, both by setting up ingenious systems to avoid controls and sanctions, such as the creation and use: of tax documents with indication of non-existent subjects, both as senders and recipients, to be used in the event of checks during the transport of the goods; of transport documents indicating compliant recipients; of copies of delivery notes made by color photocopying from the originals, for the first release for consumption with subsequent destruction of the copies (artificially used along the way), once the transport has been completed, upon arrival of the load at destination and in the absence of checks along the itinerary; the use of companies set up specifically to allow illegal purchases of lubricating oil, otherwise indicated on the transport documents such as windshield washer fluid, shampoo, etc.
The searches and computer analyzes also made it possible to reveal that a company operating in the Matera area, one of the main “hubs” for the sale of lubricating oils in central and southern Italy, which was also supplied through the criminal association, has systematically the purchased lubricating oil is marketed “under the table”, reselling it to other compliant operators in the sector, hiding products worth over 52 million euros from the tax authoritiesas ascertained through the analysis of the server containing the company’s hidden accounting.
During the investigations, thanks to technical investigations, they were eighteen seizures were carried out on the national territory of consignments of goods imported and marketed illegally, for over 470 tonnes of lubricating oil as well as other similar products.
Finally, from the investigations, it emerged that hypothesis of laundering of illicit proceeds and counterfeiting of lubricating oil brands, expected that the bulk product was marketed (removing the original labels and affixing others specially printed by a compliant printer), reporting brands, physical characteristics and instructions for use relating to product types of greater commercial value.
The overall tax evasion ascertained, for the years 2017/2023, is equal to over 14 million euros of VAT and over one million euros of national consumption tax.
The findings collected, also acquired through EPPO’s international cooperation channels, allowed the European Prosecutor’s Office to request and obtain from the Judge for preliminary investigations of the Court of Turin a provision for the application of personal precautionary measures against 14 suspects, of which 8 recipients of custody in prison and 6 recipients of house arrest.
It has also been arranged the preventive seizure, also for equivalent, of financial resources and other assets up to the amount of €15,448,000, an amount corresponding to the profit from VAT fraud and evasion of consumption tax.
For the execution of the precautionary measure, which involved the provinces of MateraTurin, Foggia, Bari, Campobasso, Rome and Trieste, and was also coordinated in 3 other EU states adhering to EPPO, were used also dog units specialized in searching for cash (cash dogs).
It should be noted that the proceeding is in the preliminary investigation phase and that, regardless of the circumstantial elements collected which led to the issuing of precautionary measures, the suspects cannot be considered guilty until a final conviction has been pronounced”.
