This afternoon, in Potenza, in Piazza Mario Pagano, the Basilicata Regional Commander, Brigadier General Roberto Pennoni, celebrates the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the Guardia di Finanza.
The solemn ceremony which will take place in the presence of the Prefects of Potenza, HE Dr. Michele Campanaro, and of Matera, HE Dr. Cristina Favilli, sees the participation of the highest civil, military and religious regional authorities, as well as that of a representation of all the departments of the Corps present in the regional territory and of the National Association of Financiers of Italy. After reading the message of the President of the Republic and the Special Order of the Day of the Commander General, the Regional Commander will give a short speech on the deeper meaning of 250 years of history of the Corps, recalling the commitment, always, of the Financiers, and of the Lucanian Financiers in particular, in the fight against the most harmful and insidious phenomena of economic-financial illegality for the community: tax evasion, avoidance and fraud, waste of public resources, counterfeiting, illicit trafficking and organized crime. The anniversary will also be an opportunity to take stock of the operational activity carried out by the employees of the Departments of the Basilicata Corps in the period January 2023 – May 2024.
OPERATING BALANCE SHEET FROM 1ST JANUARY 2023 TO 31ST MAY 2024
GDF: “ALL-ROUNDER” COMMITMENT AGAINST CRIME TO PROTECT CITIZENS AND BUSINESSES
In 2023 and the first five months of 2024, the Guardia di Finanza carried out 3,726 inspections and 1,264 investigations to combat economic and financial crime and criminal infiltration into the economy: an “all-round” commitment to protect families and businesses, destined to intensify further to ensure the correct allocation of the resources of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
FIGHTING FRAUD AND TAX EVASION
The inspection activities made it possible to identify a total of 56 tax evaders, i.e. those carrying out business or self-employment activities completely unknown to the tax authorities (some of whom operate through electronic commerce platforms) and 138 illegal or irregular workers.
There were 82 subjects reported for tax crimes. With regard to undue compensation and other crimes relating to tax credits, no. 193 interventions and concluded n. 8 investigations delegated by the judicial authority, which made it possible to discover non-existent/undue tax credits worth over 1.6 million euros and over 19 million euros relating to other offenses connected to tax credits I 22 interventions regarding excise duties made it possible to seize kg. 1,473 of energy products and to ascertain a fraudulent consumption of over 2.6 million kg.
PROTECTION OF PUBLIC SPENDING
The activity of the Financial Police 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, as a priority, to monitor projects and investments financed with resources from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. In this context, 161 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 2.1 million euros .
Attention is also paid to the protection of other resources of the European Union, including the aid provided for by the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy. In this regard, our departments conducted 11 interventions, ascertaining fraud, implemented through the presentation of untruthful data and false property titles, for approximately 1.9 million euros, making seizures for over 1.2 million euros and reporting 14 managers.
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. As part of the collaboration with the judicial authorities – criminal and accounting – 155 investigations were carried out on the subject of public spending, resulting in 126 individuals being reported and 87 responsible persons being reported to the Court of Auditors, with the ascertainment of fiscal damages for 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 subjects, of which 17 public officials and/or public service representatives, 6 arrested, and to the seizure of assets worth over 420 thousand euros. .
FIGHTING ORGANIZED AND ECONOMIC-FINANCIAL CRIME
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 money laundering and self-laundering, 11 interventions were carried out, 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, as well as 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 terms of bankruptcy crimes and 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 conduct, 6 were reported subjects, of which 1 is under arrest, with seizures worth approximately 16 thousand euros.
In application of the anti-mafia legislation, 128 subjects 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 narcotic substances and the reporting to the competent Judicial Authority of 96 people, of which 38 were under arrest, as well as 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 to increase 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 indication of being made in Italy, unsafe and in violation of copyright legislation.
RELIEF OPERATIONS AND COMPETITION IN PUBLIC ORDER AND SECURITY SERVICES
The Corps’ competitive commitment to the protection of public order and security continues to be guaranteed in the management of public demonstrations and events of particular importance, in which the Corps participates as a priority with the use of specialized Anti-Terrorism Ready-to-Employ soldiers. “AT-PI”.
In 2023, the Guardia di Finanza spent a total of 2,254 man-days in public order services during demonstrations, sporting events, international meetings and other events. This commitment, which is continuing in 2024, has led to an overall use of 1,028 man-days in public order services.
