VARESE – A seizure worth almost 5 million euros (approximately 4 million 700 thousand euros) and two disqualification measures which prohibit the recipients of the provision issued by the investigating judge of the Court of Varese at the end of the operation from carrying out business activities “easy slot” completed come on financiers of the provincial command of the Gdf of Varese.
Lottomatica’s complaint
The investigation started from the complaint presented by Lottomatica against a company based in Varese that deals with “unpacking” of the slot rooms with the possibility of a crime of embezzlement and embezzlement due to failure to pay the single tax levy (Preu)or a tax applied to amusement and entertainment machines and for the misappropriation of the cash fund, kept inside the new slot machines, constantly connected to the monopolies’ electronic network.
What the system provides
Normally, the system provides that the Manager proceeds, on the one hand, with the removal of each individual appliance, by withdrawing the coins contained therein corresponding to the total amount played by customers on that machine in a given period, net of the winnings paid at the same time and, on the other hand, to the payment to the Concessionaire who is required, in turn, to pay the the amount due to the Treasury as a concession fee and the Preu, e which therefore remains the guarantor of the correct fulfillment of tax obligations by the Manager.
The Chinese boxes
Following the investigative findings that emerged from the first investigations carried out by the financiers a search was carried out involving ten people and six companies. From the analysis of the seized documentation, the chat found on the mobile phones, from the outcome of the bank investigations and the declarations made by those informed of the facts, the existence of a criminal association was contested, which through the establishment of some companies that operated in the sector of the collection and management of gambling, they guaranteed a continuous movement of money for commercial operations involving the provision of services and the purchase and sale of companies that were in fact non-existent.
Thousands of euros in coins
Among other things, during the searches, 200 thousand euros in coins were seized, relating to the illicit theft of funds held inside the slot machines. Furthermore, during the investigations, the Fiamme Gialle investigated various reports of suspicious transactions which highlighted continuous banking movements “justified” by numerous invoices for non-existent operations aimed at emptying the network of companies established by the criminal association to self-launder the money stolen from the slots that they had under management. Therefore, the investigating judge of the Court of Varese has ordered, upon proposal of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Varese, the execution of the real precautionary measure of preventive seizure as well as the interdictory measure for two of the 7 suspects.
Investigations closed
In response to these crimes, the Judicial Authority simultaneously ordered the notification to the suspects, 7 natural persons and 1 legal person, of the conclusion of the investigations preliminaries for the crimes of embezzlement, embezzlement, fraudulent declaration and issuing invoices for persistent transactionsself-laundering, fraud against the State, fraudulent bankruptcy and administrative offense resulting from a crime alleged against the company implicated in the investigations.
