THE DIREZIONE INVESTIGATIVA ANTIMAFIA SEIZES ASSETS IN GREECE AND BULGARIA TOTALLING OVER 2 MILLION EUROS FROM AN ENTREPRENEUR ALLEGEDLY CLOSE TO ORGANIZED CRIME IN THE TARANTO AREA

The Direzione Investigativa Antimafia, an institution within the Department of Public Security, served a seizure order issued by the Court in Lecce against an entrepreneur from the Taranto area operating in the sector of  the wholesale trade of mussels.

In 2019, the man, previously sentenced for mafia-type association, extortion and infringement of the laws regulating arms and ammunitions, was issued a preventive asset-related measure proposed by the DIA. This resulted in the confiscation of assets located in Italy for a total value of approx. 5 million euros.

Further investigations, upon proxy of the local Prosecutor’s Office, allowed to reveal other investments made by the affected person, so a new preventive measure was issued, in compliance with Regulation of the European Parliament and Council no. 1805/2018 concerning judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the European Union. The measure involved 2 active companies, one in Greece (in the wholesale trade of food) and one in Bulgaria (in the international transport sector), as well as other assets located abroad for over 2 million euros.

Today’s result is the outcome of institutional activities of the Direzione Investigativa Antimafia aimed at countering illegally-gained assets and linked, directly or indirectly, to mafia-type criminal phenomena, thus protecting and safe-guarding the healthy tissue of the national economy.

Lecce, 16 May 2023