Italian financial police are dismantling a mafia-linked underground bank that allegedly laundered tens of millions of euros through cryptocurrencies, fake invoices, and cross-border transfers.
The Guardia di Finanza of Milan and Monza Brianza in coordination with the Milan Anti-Mafia Directorate, targeted a network based in a car-rental business in Pero near Milan involving members of the ‘Ndrangheta groups in Crotone and the Casalesi Clan, reports Quartz.
The scheme collected illicit cash from drug trafficking and tax evasion before issuing over €110 million ($123.45 million) in false invoices through shell companies.
The shell companies issued invoices for services that were never provided, allowing businesses in industries such as logistics and construction to reduce their tax liabilities. After the companies wired payments, the network returned the money in cash, minus a fee. Couriers delivered the cash, which came from tax evasion and drug trafficking.
Money held in the shell companies’ bank accounts was transferred to lenders in Luxembourg, Lithuania and Germany before being routed through cryptocurrency exchanges and into digital wallets controlled by the organization.
Italian authorities arrested 30 people on Wednesday in an investigation into an alleged underground bank linked to organized crime. The suspects face accusations of belonging to a criminal organization, with alleged use of mafia-style methods serving as an aggravating factor. They allegedly sent about €68 million ($76.29 million) overseas, using digital assets to launder the illicit funds.
More than 350 officers participated in the operation, and authorities are moving to seize assets worth €21 million ($23.56 million). Spanish police are executing European arrest warrants, while Swiss authorities are working to apprehend another suspect.
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