Luca Silvestrone , who in 2014 presented himself as the representative of a mysterious American consortium intending to purchase Cagliari Calcio , was arrested as part of an investigation conducted by the Guardia di Finanza of Faenza, focused on a partnership that allegedly obtained undue profits , for approximately 2 million euros, to the detriment of over 500 people . A fraud centered on funds provided by the EU .
Together with Silvestrone, three other people were granted precautionary custody orders in prison: Mauro Nucci, Stefano Pignatelli and Lorenzo Tellarini.
The victims of the illicit ring were identified in 13 regions, including the island.
Not only that: according to what was reconstructed by the Fiamme Gialle, the fraud mechanism adopted by the association made use of companies based in Cagliari, as well as in Rome and Viareggio.
«The complex investigative activity - explain the investigators - made it possible to dismantle an association that falsely offered unsuspecting subjects the possibility of accessing financing provided by European Union bodies, even partly non-repayable, to provide liquidity to businesses or for family needs" .
«Overall – the investigators continue – the funding promised by Silvestrone and the other suspects amounted to 50 million euros, money which however never arrived, as the European funds were completely non-existent ».
The fraud mechanism adopted by the association "envisaged the request to the victims of a compensation to be paid into the bank accounts of the companies involved as payment for the investigation necessary to start the financing procedure". This compensation was systematically made available to the suspects, «through the issuing of false invoices», with the aim of «making people lose track of the proceeds illicitly acquired by the victims of the scams, sometimes also taking advantage of the precarious financial situation in which many of them found themselves. them ."
The investigations, the Fiamme Gialle further underline, «have identified various cases: from the request for financing for real estate sales, with the victims who had sometimes already stipulated compromises counting on those additional resources, to requests presented to deal with family liquidity crises, circumstances in to which a further loan had even been taken out to pay for the investigation".
(Unioneonline/lf)
