On the occasion of the 250th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Financial Police, a has been traced balance of the operational activity carried out by the employees of the Basilicata Corps in the period from January 2023 to May of this year. In 2023 and in the first five months of 2024, the Guardia di Finanza carried out 3,726 inspection interventions And 1,264 investigations to counteract the economic-financial crimes and the criminal infiltration in the economy. An all-round commitment to protect families and businesses, destined to further intensify to guarantee the correct allocation of the resources of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The inspection activities have allowed us to identify 56 total tax evadersi.e. operators of business or self-employed activities completely unknown to the tax authorities (some of whom operate through electronic commerce platforms) and 138 illegal or irregular workers.
The people reported for tax crimes I am 82. Regarding undue compensation and other offenses relating to tax credits have been carried out 193 interventions and concluded 8 investigations delegated by the Judicial Authority which made it possible to discover tax credits that do not exist or are not due for a value of more 1.6 million euros and beyond 19 million euros relating to other offenses connected to tax credits. The 22 interventions in the field of excise duties made it possible to seize 1,473 kg of energy products and to ascertain a fraudulent consumption of over 2.6 million kg.
The activity of the Guardia di Finanza in the sector of the protection of public spending is aimed at supervising the correct use of European Union and national resources for the implementation of interventions to support businesses and families. The directives given aim to monitor projects and investments financed with resources from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. 161 interventions were therefore carried out aimed at verifying the right of citizens and businesses to tax credits, contributions and financing and also the correct execution of the works and services covered by public tenders for over 2.1 million euros.
Attention is also paid to the protection of other European Union resources including the aid provided for by the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy. The Departments conducted 11 interventions, ascertaining fraud, carried out through the presentation of untruthful data and false ownership titles for approximately 1.9 million euros, making seizures for over 1.2 million euros and reporting 14 perpetrators.
On the national public spending front, in the same period, 547 interventions were carried out, of which 218 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 around 2 million euros while those relating to national funding, social security and welfare spending are around 140 thousand euros.
In the context of collaboration with the Criminal and Accounting Judicial Authority, the following operations were carried out: 155 investigations on the subject of public spending, as a result of which 126 people were reported and 87 responsible persons reported to the Court of Auditors with the assessment of treasury damages amounting to over 14.2 million euros. There is a growing collaboration in the area with the European Prosecutor’s Office, with which there are 6 investigations underway and 1 concluded, the latter has led to the denunciation of 2 perpetrators and the proposed seizure of approximately 150 thousand euros. In terms of procurement, assignment procedures and methods of execution of works and services for over 1.2 million 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 regimes and the role of the subjects involved, led to the denunciation of 38 people, of which 17 public officials and/or those in charge of public service, 6 arrested, and the seizure of availability for over 420 thousand euros.
In the fight against organized and economic-financial crime, the Corps’ action aims to block criminal infiltration into the legal economy and, at the same time, to protect the free market and compliance with the rules of healthy competition. In the field of recycling and self-laundering were performed 11 interventions which led to the reporting of 16 people, of which 9 were arrested, to the reconstruction of illicit operations for over 2.1 million euros and to the seizure of assets for over 2 million euros.
Over 307 suspicious financial flows generated by operators of the anti-money laundering prevention system were investigated.
In the field of bankruptcy crimes and of the business crisis code, the seized assets amount to over 2,4 million euros out of a total of stolen assets of approximately 25 million euros, while with reference to extortion, 6 individuals were reported, of which 1 was arrested, with seizures of approximately 16 thousand euros.
In application of the anti-mafia legislation, 128 people were subjected to asset checks, and the value of the movable and immovable assets, companies, company shares and financial resources proposed to the Judicial Authority for seizure amounts to over 14.5 million euros, and to the value of the confiscations carried out is approximately 1.7 million euros. 1,047 checks were then carried out following requests received from the Prefects of the Republic, most of which referred to functional checks for the release of anti-mafia documentation.
In the period under review, the Corps departments carried out 313 interventions which led to the seizure of approximately 68 kilograms of drugs and to the report to the competent Judicial Authority of 96 people, of which 38 were arrested, and to the reporting of 350 hirers to the competent Prefectures. The fight against illicit trafficking, in general, is also ensured within the 117 Service, which provided its contribution with the use of 4,128 patrols, the subject of recent interventions in the operational, training and technical-logistic fields, aimed at increasing the operational readiness and effectiveness of intervention of patrols in the area, in response to citizen reports.
On the protection of the goods and services market, 79 interventions were carried out and 9 powers of the Judicial Authority were developed. Following these activities, 70 thousand counterfeit products were seized, with false indications of Made in Italy, unsafe and in violation of copyright legislation.
