Macerata: Guardia di Finanza reports “money transfer” for illicit use of customer data and illegal transfers

The financiers of the Economic and Financial Police Unit of Macerata, within the framework of a broader plan of combating the financing of terrorism and the improper use of the financial system, which affected the entire province of Macerata, in order to verify the correct fulfillment of the obligations set forth by the anti-money laundering legislation, have carried out a control of financial flows towards a money transfer agency.

The investigations carried out, also making use of the powers of the currency police, corroborated by further elements taken from the databases used by the Corps, have allowed the Guardia di Finanza to bring to light a system through which the agent transferred sums of money to their personal bank account, evading the controls required by the sector legislation.

Specifically, it was found that the agent of community intermediaries, sub-mandate of a payment institution, although required to comply with anti-money laundering legislation with particular reference to the identification obligations for the purposes of customer due diligence, acquired and retained untrue data and information on the executors of 14 cash transfer operations, for a total of total amount of € 12.284,10, using, without authorization, the personal data and documents of unsuspecting customers, who were "formally" the senders of the operations in question, with the exception of a single "sender" who had consented to the execution of the transfer operation in his name, using his own identification data.

At the end of the investigative activities, conducted by military personnel specialized in the anti-money laundering sector of the Unit, the following were The manager of the “money transfer” and one of his clients reported for the crimes of impersonation and falsification of customer data in competition.

Further investigations are also underway aimed at reconstructing the cash flows involved in order to verify the position of those responsible from a fiscal point of view.

In any case, in accordance with the principle of the presumption of innocence, the guilt of the persons investigated in relation to the matter will be definitively ascertained only if an irrevocable sentence of conviction is issued.

The control of payment circuits alternative to the banking system, of electronic money instruments and virtual currencies, which constantly involves the Guardia di Finanza Departments, is essential for identifying possible terrorist network financing operations, intercepting illicit capital and combating forms of money laundering capable of polluting the legal economy and altering the conditions of competition.