THE DIA SEIZED COMPANY SHARES AND FINANCIAL ASSETS FROM A MEMBER WITH CRIMINAL RECORDS SUSPECTED OF BELONGING TO THE ‘NDRANGHETA

On request of the court in Reggio Calabria, the Direzione Investigativa Antimafia seized assets from a person living in the area of Como.

The ablative preventive measure was taken at the end of in-depth investigations carried out by the DIA Field Office in Milan against the suspect’s family members, on request of the Prosecutor’s Office in Reggio Calabria. The suspect was considered to be socially dangerous based on his thirty-year long criminal history as of 1988. He was convicted for a series of predatory crimes (criminal association, selling of stolen goods, robberies and theft of luxury cars) and was seriously suspected of being a member of an ‘Ndrangheta clan.

The felon was already subject of a previous antimafia investigation coordinated by the District Antimafia Diectorate in Reggio Calabria, which in July 2016 resulted in the arrest of 40 persons, who belonged or were close to the ‘Ndrangheta crime group. He acted as hidden partner in some companies in order to elude law provisions regulating preventive measures, thus encouraging the entrepreneurial activity of the crime group.  

Further evidence of guilt emerged from the analysis carried out by the DIA on a series of suspicious financial transactions highlighting the links between gaming and betting companies connected to the suspect and organized crime.

Tracing back the economic and financial situation of all family members it came out that there was disproportion between the income declared and the assets purchased, accumulated and capitalized, which were seized today by the DIA. Based on this evidence, it is reasonable to assume that they are illicitly gained or reinvested assets.

Moreover, given particularly serious reasons, the court in Reggio Calabria also ordered the temporarily application of the prohibitions provided for by the Antimafia code, preventing him also from getting police and commercial authorizations or licenses.

The seizure was carried out in cooperation with the Swiss counterpart as part of the international cooperation activity. It concerned financial positions, company shares of 8 computer companies with registered offices in Milan, Rome and Canton of Ticino (CH), operating in the field of betting and lotteries. In details, the assets affected by the ablative measure are worth over 6 million euros as a whole and in the last two years the companies have had a turnover over of over 15 million euros.

Today’s operation is part of the  activities aimed at attacking the illicitly gained assets which are directly or indirectly linked to criminal activities, thus protecting the healthy sector of the national economy.

Milan, 25 January 2022