The military personnel of the Cagliari Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza have executed a precautionary measure against 11 individuals (out of a total of 14 under investigation), accused of various counts of bankruptcy and self-laundering . The order was issued by the investigating judge of the Cagliari Court at the request of the local Public Prosecutor's Office.
The investigations arose from the liquidation of a leading temporary employment agency operating in Sardinia, Lazio, Lombardy, Marche, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Tuscany. Specifically, six people were placed under house arrest with electronic tags, while five others were required to report to the judicial police daily. At the same time, the investigating judge ordered the precautionary seizure of assets and sums totaling approximately €42 million .
Investigators have uncovered evidence of significant misappropriations of corporate resources totaling approximately €78 million. The scheme is believed to have begun in 2018, carried out by the de facto administrator and various subsequent de jure administrators. Family members of the company's employees and several front men from 11 satellite companies (two of which were based in Romania) are also believed to have participated in the scheme, thus harming the company's creditors.
The total identified deficit is approximately €118 million . Among the main creditors are thousands of workers employed by Italian companies in large-scale retail trade, construction, logistics, plant engineering, and mechanical engineering. They were found to have failed to pay contributions amounting to nearly €65 million.
The alleged illicit scheme used to siphon off resources consisted of three phases. The first was diversion : the bankrupt company transferred the funds to specially established satellite companies, sometimes paying disproportionate salaries to employees of the de facto director's family or covering costs for non-existent or duplicate services. The second was reinvestment : the beneficiary companies accounted for these sums as apparently legitimate revenues, reintroducing them into the economic cycle. The third was concealment : the Italian company's financial statements were falsified with fictitious credits and understated social security liabilities to conceal its insolvency and avoid bankruptcy.
Along with the precautionary measures, the Judicial Authority ordered two and six searches of homes and offices in the provinces of Cagliari, Sulcis, Nuoro, Belluno, Pisa, Livorno, Rome, and Potenza. The seizures included bank accounts, company shares, and dozens of properties, assets against which the damaged creditors may potentially seek recourse.
The Guardia di Finanza's operation is part of a broader effort to combat economic and financial crime, protecting the market, honest entrepreneurs, and workers' rights.
(UNioneonline/En.Ne.)
