Results obtained by the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza of Como: thousands of liters of diesel and petrol seized.
Four tanks seized
As part of a coordinated control plan promoted by the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza of Como to combat fraud in the sector of excise duties and indirect taxes on the production and consumption of fuels, the financiers of the Como Group carried out a series of checks on the conformity and safety of the products offered for sale by road and motorway distributors in the province. During the activities, in addition to checks on the correctness of the quantity of fuel delivered to the pump, specific quality checks were also carried out on the numerous samples taken directly from the dispensing nozzles of the systems and sent for analysis to the Chemical Laboratory of the Customs Agency and monopolies of Milan. At the end of the activity, 25 dispensers were sealed and four tanks containing 27,000 liters of automotive diesel and 1,000 liters of “100 octane” petrol were found to be non-compliant. The legal representative of the distribution plant, of which, in the current state of affairs investigations, without prejudice to the presumption of innocence, was reported for “fraud in the exercise of trade” (art. 515 criminal code) and for “possession or use of products obtained from clandestine manufacturing or unauthorized mixing” (art . 40 letter of Legislative Decree 26 October 1995 – TUA).
The activity
The selection of the distributors to be subjected to control carried out by the Guardia di Finanza made it possible to identify a significant anomaly in the chemical composition of one of the samples taken: the fuel analyzed in fact had altered chemical characteristics, apparently being mixed. A specific joint activity was therefore prepared by the Fiamme Gialle and the Como Customs and Monopolies Agency against the plant suspected of marketing non-compliant energy products.
During the control, the financiers and customs officials carried out further sampling at the distributor and, to guarantee the timeliness of the intervention, they used the ADM Mobile Chemical Laboratory, through which it was possible to carry out the analyses, in real time, directly in the service area.
Irregularity noted
Once the first results were obtained and the irregularity of the products was noted, the samples were immediately sent to the Chemical Laboratory of Milan which, with an emergency procedure, carried out new analyses. The irregularities were confirmed, with particular concern for the results relating to the chemical characteristics of the stored diesel fuel; in fact, a flash point of 40°C was found, when the standard states that it must never be lower than 55°C. The flash point is the temperature above which the liquid releases sufficient vapor to create a flammable mixture with the air, while below it the vapor that forms is still insufficient to create a flammable mixture; the lower the flash point, the more easily the vapor forms at normal temperatures and the greater the risk of it catching fire during transport.
Lower octane rating
Analyzes of the petrol made it possible to ascertain that the product was put on sale with an octane number lower than that declared. Petrol with higher octane, or Premium, is able to optimize the car’s performance, cleans the engine and produces fewer harmful emissions but, in this specific case, the fuel offered for sale, at a higher price, did not have the expected characteristics . The seized products, of lower quality than that declared, although not causing immediate malfunctions in the vehicles, with their prolonged use could still have damaged the engines and produced more polluting exhaust gas emissions.
