False invoices and improper compensations: 15 arrests. Seizures also reported in Sardinia.

Land, properties, companies, and bank accounts worth over €11.1 million have been seized in Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Veneto, and Sardinia by the Guardia di Finanza (Financial Police) in execution of an order signed by the investigating judge of the Florence court. This is part of an investigation by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate (DDA), which has 15 individuals under investigation, on various counts, for issuing invoices for non-existent transactions and undue tax offsets. The damage to the Treasury is estimated at over €11 million.

The seizure for confiscation purposes is the continuation of the investigation that "exploded" last July 1st with three arrests in prison and 12 under house arrest in Tuscany, Lazio, Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Veneto and Campania.

At the center of the investigations by the Guardia di Finanza's GICO, with the support of the SCICO, which began in 2020, is a criminal organization operating primarily in Florence, Prato, and Salerno. The organization, which also included accounting professionals and experts , is dedicated, according to the Florence prosecutor's office, to the systematic acquisition of companies. The purpose of these operations was to unduly offset tax debts through the use of fictitious tax credits related to non-existent "Research and Development" activities formally performed by "shell companies" with no real corporate structure.

According to the investigation, the research and development projects, from artificial intelligence systems to holographic projects, had been carefully planned by an engineer from Salerno—the organizer of the partnership and a key figure in providing scientific validity to the projects—in collaboration with an accountant from Prato who prepared fictitious financial statements to ensure compliance with the regulations granting tax breaks to startups.

Based on further evidence gathered, including financial evidence, the investigating judge quantified the profits equal to the savings achieved, with respect to eight companies (with headquarters in the provinces of Florence, Prato, Bologna, and Rome) and five individuals, all under investigation for undue compensation.

(Unioneonline)