Reggio Emilia is once again at the center of an operation by the Guardia di Finanza for a 62 million euro tax fraud, which led to 80 searches and 50 suspects. Among these there is also the 44-year-old Antonio Sestito, son of Dante, owner of the Dante Gomme workshop, who at the beginning of the year was sentenced to 26 years for the murder of Salvatore Silipo in 2021. Antonio Sestito figures in the Billions investigation as one of the promoters of the organization specializing in false invoices. For the investigators he would also be a point of reference in this new investigation.
Since dawn yesterday morning, the soldiers of the Guardia di Finanza and the operators of the State Police have been executing – under the delegation of the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Reggio Emilia and under the direction of the Prosecutor, Dr. Calogero Gaetano PACI – to a search decree and two preventive seizure decrees relating to the illicit proceeds of a large tax fraud, issued by the GIP of the Reggio Emilia Court Dr. Luca Ramponi.
The investigation activity, called TITANO, made it possible to identify a series of paper mill companies mainly attributable to a subject resident in the province of Reggio Emilia – already involved in the “Billions” operation together with other subjects involved in the same investigation and affected by the era of precautionary measures – established for the sole purpose of issuing invoices for non-existent operations (FOI) towards third companies, presumed users of the same, in order to allow them to evade income taxes and VAT, to benefit of the criminal gang.
The paper mills appeared to formally carry out wholesale trade activities of petroleum products, construction machinery, packaging, computers and software, manufacturing of metal articles and retail trade of products via the Internet, while the user companies operate in the field of wholesale trade. wholesale of packaging, construction and clothing.
Today’s preventive seizure order was issued by the Judicial Authority against 8 companies present on the national territory and 9 of the legal representatives and/or directors of the same companies, for which the Judge ruled that, thanks to the fraud perpetrated, they achieved an illicit profit of 6,000,000 euros.
At the end of the investigation activities, it was ascertained that the 44 companies involved used, in their respective annual declarations for VAT and direct tax purposes, invoices for non-existent operations received from the paper mill companies for approximately €62,000,000.00, in a time frame ranging from 2018 to 2022.
Simultaneously with the execution of the seizure decree, n. 80 searches of the subjects – also with the help of the so-called cash dogs of the Guardia di Finanza – who, on the basis of the investigative findings carried out also through the databases used by the Guardia di Finanza, appeared to be recipients of the FOI issued by the companies paper mills involved. The searches against the alleged users of FOI (both natural and legal persons) were carried out with the aim of identifying and seizing, for evidentiary purposes, the documentation proving the use in the mandatory declarations of tax documents accused of being fictitious, by of all the accomplices identified by the operative police, involved in the complex criminal plan.
During the operations, the Warranty Information was also notified to the 50 natural persons reported at liberty for tax crimes.
By virtue of the principle of the presumption of innocence referred to in art. 3 of Legislative Decree 188/2021, the guilt of the subjects subjected to investigation in relation to the judicial matter will be definitively ascertained only if an irrevocable sentence of conviction occurs.
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published on 06/21/2024
