The soldiers of the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza of Latina, as part of their economic-financial police tasks, have recently concluded a thorough investigative activity aimed at combating fraudulent conduct and the abusive exercise of financial activity in payment services, which involved a large number of citizens.
In particular, the soldiers of the Latina Group conducted an independent investigation, which then merged into an investigative mandate issued by the Latina Public Prosecutor’s Office, against an agency operating as a “telematic post office”. This agency, apparently dedicated to the collection of taxes, was in reality used to embezzle the sums paid by citizens in good faith.
As part of this investigation, it emerged that the owner of the agency, from 2017 onwards, had collected sums of money from numerous private individuals without the necessary authorizations. These amounts, declared intended for the payment of local taxes, were withheld by the owner herself, who issued false payment receipts, without then paying them as declared to the users.
Following the checks carried out at the Municipality of Latina on hundreds of positions and the analysis of the administrative-accounting documentation, as well as the bank investigations ordered by the Judicial Authority and the testimonies collected from numerous people involved, evidentiary elements emerged which indicate the presence of a structured and long-lasting scam mechanism. This system allowed the entrepreneur to obtain profits at the expense of a large number of citizens, especially the elderly.
From the detailed investigations carried out, it emerged that the sums collected for taxes and “services” were not paid to the Municipality of Latina, despite the owner issuing false payment certificates. In some cases, the sums collected were only partially paid to the municipal body, and only following complaints from customers, who had received notices of payment of local taxes or notifications of tax bills.
The woman, while remaining presumed innocent until the conclusion of the trial, was referred to the Judicial Authority for the crimes of fraud (art. 640 of the criminal code) and abusive exercise of financial activities (art. 131 ter of the TUB), for having illegally exercised payment services and financial intermediation activities without the necessary authorizations.
The investigation conducted by the Fiamme Gialle of Latina, in synergy with the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Latina, further highlights the strong social vocation of the Corps, which in addition to guaranteeing the typical economic-financial police action, is committed to protecting the healthy part of society and the entire community. The Corps takes the field on the front line to combat illegal activities, guarantee the correct functioning of the market and the good faith of citizens, especially the most vulnerable, and to protect public resources managed by local authorities to guarantee essential services.
