Guardia di Finanza Cremona: maxi tax fraud unmasked. Assets worth over 1,5 million euros seized.

A criminal association aimed at committing fraudulent bankruptcy, self-laundering, false invoices and fictitious credits was discovered. 339 irregular workers were identified and assets worth over 1,5 million euros were seized. 

As part of investigations coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Brescia, the Guardia di Finanza Group of Cremona, in execution of a precautionary measure issued by the Judge for Preliminary Investigations of the Court of Brescia against 4 joint-stock companies and 3 natural persons, seized 14 properties, 6 cars, 13 financial reports (with active balances of approximately 250 thousand euros) and 19 thousand euros in cash for an estimated value of over 1 million euros.

The investigating judge applied the precautionary measure of preventive seizure pursuant to articles 321 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and 12 bis of Legislative Decree 74/00, validating the emergency order previously issued by the Public Prosecutor's Office, in light of the serious evidence that emerged from the investigations into the existence of a criminal association consisting of 3 building contractors from Castelcovati (BS) who allegedly managed 3 companies, registered in the name of compliant "front men" and having their registered office at non-existent addresses in San Bassano (CR), Crema (CR) and Pistoia, dedicated to the issuing and use of invoices for objectively non-existent transactions in order to unduly offset the corresponding fictitious VAT credit for the payment of IRPEF withholdings and social security contributions on the wages of the
construction workers.

In fact, these companies would have been used as “manpower reservoirs” in order to supply workers to the "healthy" company of the group based in Castelcovati (BS), by issuing invoices for subjectively non-existent operations, thus illegally supplying the workforce in the absence of the authorisations referred to in Legislative Decree 276/2003 and evading the limits referred to in Legislative Decree 81/2015 (given that the supplying companies, lacking real corporate substance, were in reality managed by the receiving company).

The investigative activity, resulting from the tax control activities carried out on the two Cremona companies, has allowed us to reconstruct the illicit conduct that the criminal association allegedly carried out from 2020 onwards. In fact, it would be a question of invoices for non-existent transactions for approximately €7 million (of which €4.8 million objectively non-existent and €2.2 million subjectively non-existent), undue compensation of non-existent tax credits for €600, illicit administration of 339 employees for the years 2021, 2022 and 2023 and related administrative sanctions for a total amount of approximately €850 thousand.

The three companies have been placed in judicial liquidation by the Court of Brescia and the related investigative investigation has highlighted fraudulent bankruptcy practices in relation to the diversion of company assets that would have been perpetrated for €1.4 million, furthermore part of these sums would have been self-laundered by purchasing luxury watches from a watchmaker's in Monte Carlo.

Furthermore, it would have emerged the failure to adopt organizational and management models suitable for preventing tax and bankruptcy crimes, with the consequent applicability of the sanctions referred to in Article 25 quinquiesdecies of Legislative Decree no. 231/2001 regarding the liability of entities for administrative offences deriving from crime.

The Public Prosecutor's Office of Brescia has issued the notice of conclusion of the investigations pursuant to art. 415 bis of the Code of Criminal Procedure in which the crimes of criminal association (416 of the Code of Criminal Procedure), fraudulent bankruptcy of assets and documents (art. 322, paragraph 1, 326 and 329 paragraph 2 letter b) Legislative Decree 14/2019), self-laundering (art. 648 ter-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure), issuing invoices for non-existent transactions (art. 8 of Legislative Decree 74/00), fraudulent declaration (art. 2 of Legislative Decree 74/00) and undue compensation of non-existent credits (art. 10 quater, paragraph 2, Legislative Decree 74/00) are contested.