Italy GdF: mafia 'hidden bank' laundered €68M via crypto

At a glance

Italy’s Guardia di Finanza (GdF) is executing precautionary measures against 30 suspects, 16 in jail and 14 under house arrest, and an urgent seizure of more than €21 million, according to ANSA and MilanoFinanza.
Investigators say the group issued more than €110 million in false invoices and laundered €68 million internationally through crypto.

The GdF’s Milan and Monza Brianza commands broke up what investigators call a “banca occulta”, or hidden bank, for organised crime, ANSA reported on Wednesday.

The operation was delegated by the anti-mafia directorate (DDA) of the Milan prosecutor’s office. The suspects are linked to the ‘Ndrangheta, the Camorra and the Foggia-based group known as the “Fourth Mafia”, according to ANSA. Reports are in Italian; translations here are CryptoWatchDesk’s.

How the scheme worked, according to investigators

The hidden bank operated from Pero, outside Milan, under the cover of a car-rental company, Il Sole 24 Ore reported, citing the Milan prosecutor’s office.

Prosecutors say it was headed by three Italians: two described as referents of ‘Ndrangheta clans from Crotone and one as a member of the Casalesi clan of the Camorra. Chinese and Albanian accomplices supported them, according to the reports.

MilanoFinanza reported the steps investigators describe:

shell companies, registered to front men mainly in Lombardy and Campania, invoiced firms in construction, logistics and services for work never done;
after the invoices were paid by bank transfer, the group handed the same amount back in cash, keeping 2% to 5%;
money on the shell companies’ accounts went to accounts in Luxembourg, Lithuania and Germany, then to exchange platforms that converted it into crypto sent to wallets controlled by the group.

Investigators also found transfers on the shell companies’ accounts from people who had reported being scammed while trying to invest in crypto, MilanoFinanza reported. The system was also allegedly used to launder phishing proceeds.

Part of the proceeds allegedly went to a “solidarity fund” for jailed ‘Ndrangheta members, prosecutors say. The group is also accused of supplying weapons and vehicles to people close to the Foggia group.

Court employee and former officer

The investigation also covers alleged corruption and unauthorised access to computer systems. A Milan court employee, with the help of a lawyer, allegedly obtained confidential information on the investigation and passed it to the group’s leaders, according to MilanoFinanza. A former GdF member is accused of taking money from a Chinese suspect in exchange for confidential information.

More than 350 GdF personnel took part in searches across Italian provinces, ANSA reported. Three suspects are being arrested abroad, two in Spain under European arrest warrants and one in Switzerland, with support from Interpol’s I-CAN unit against the ‘Ndrangheta. Cash, bank accounts, crypto, cars, boats, jewellery, luxury watches and cash-counting machines are being seized.

The reports do not say which exchanges were used or how much of the seized amount is in crypto.

Earlier this month, Brazilian police seized R 8.8 million in crypto from self-custody wallets in a separate case. Seizing self-custodied crypto requires control of the private keys.

The measures are precautionary. The suspects have not been tried, and none has commented publicly.

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This article is for information only and is not investment advice.