The Cagliari DDA scrutinized everything: road accident reimbursements, daily expenses, even the smallest transactions on bank accounts and prepaid cards. But for the massive asset seizure of Operation West Pole , based on an international investigation by the Olbia Carabinieri that dismantled a drug trafficking ring, they went even further.
In fact, the 400-page decree from the Cagliari investigating judge also mentions "suspicious" proceeds from national lotteries, particularly from "Scratch and Win" tickets.
A suspicious win of €200,000 and 14 other payments from national lotteries for smaller amounts, made over a period of just over a year, between 2021 and 2022, were recorded and analyzed.
The winnings appear to be legitimate: someone purchased the correct scratch-off ticket and then presented the coupon (to Lottomatica SpA) for collection. Everything in order? Not exactly. The number, frequency, and circumstances of the huge amount of luck in such a short period of time attracted investigators' attention: was someone purchasing the winning tickets from the real owner to launder dirty money?
Andrea Busia