In 2023 and in the first five months of 2024, the Campania Regional Command of the Guardia di Finanza also carried out checks in the sector of the protection of public spending with the aim of monitoring the correct use of European Union and national resources, for the implementation of interventions to support businesses and families. 1,607 interventions were carried out aimed at verifying the entitlement of citizens and businesses to tax credits, contributions and financing, as well as the correct execution of the works and services subject to public procurement, for over 1.1 billion euros.
Attention is also paid to the protection of other European Union resources, including aid provided for by the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy. In this regard, our departments conducted 35 interventions, ascertaining fraud, carried out through the presentation of untruthful data and false property titles, for over 19 million euros, making seizures for 181 thousand euros and reporting 165 perpetrators.
On the national public spending front, in the same period, over 7,703 interventions were carried out, of which 4,016 related to citizenship income and new inclusion and support measures for training and work. The action to combat fraud against EU resources has led overall to ascertaining contributions unduly received for over 175 million while those relating to national funding, social security and welfare spending amount to 149 million euros.
As part of the collaboration with the judicial authority – criminal and accounting – 1,794 investigations were carried out on the subject of public spending, resulting in 7,239 individuals being reported and 980 responsible persons reported to the Court of Auditors, with the ascertainment of treasury damages for 406 million euros. Collaboration in the area with the European Prosecutor’s Office is growing, with which 35 investigations have been carried out which have led to the denunciation of 17 perpetrators and the execution of seizures worth around 315,000 euros. In terms of procurement, assignment procedures and methods of execution of works and services for 1.6 billion euros were monitored.
The action of the Corps in combating corruption phenomena and other crimes against the public administration, carried out by leveraging the particular investigative powers that characterize the economic-financial police and developing structured investigations of a technical, financial and patrimonial nature, aimed at reconstructing the criminal management and the role of the subjects involved, led to the arrest of 48 people, the reporting of 299 and the seizure of assets worth 77.5 million euros.
