The Director

                                  Generale di Corpo d’Armata della Guardia di Finanza

Michele CARBONE

Education

After the undergraduate course at the Guardia di Finanza Academy, at the end of which he became Lieutenant, he rose through all officer ranks to reach in 2020 the highest position as Lieutenant General of the Guardia di Finanza.
He graduated in Law, Political Sciences, Economic and Financial Security Sciences obtaining top marks. He attended the Advanced Course of Tax Police, intended for a limited number of commissioned officers, selected on the basis of a competition and assigned to leading positions. He also obtained a second level master degree in Corporate Tax Laws, issued by the Bocconi University in Milan. Moreover, he achieved a master degree in Security, Intelligence and Crisis Areas at the S.I.O.I. and the Ce.S.I. in Rome. He attended management and top management classes. He is listed in the Register of Statutory Auditors.
The Lieutenant General has a long and multifaceted professional experience, also at the international level, gaining results of indisputable value, testified by unanimous excellent “report cards” and by several awards, in particular with reference to significant operations aimed at safeguarding publi
c finances, fighting against criminal infiltration in the production sector as well as preventing and countering distortions of the economic-financial system.

Leadership positions

Among his leading roles, mention should be made of the following positions:
Commander of the Intercontinental Airport Company Fiumicino, a branch which is deeply involved in the fight against international offences in the sector of currencies, customs and drugs; tax inspection Section Commander of the Regional Unit of the Tax Police in Milan, having a pivotal role in countering the most sophisticated means of tax evasion and avoidance; Commander of the Investigation Group on Organized Crime (GICO) in Palermo, which is the main counterpart of the District Antimafia Directorates in Sicily, focusing its activity on criminal police operations; Provincial Commander in Milan, having jurisdiction over the most important and dynamic metropolitan area in Italy; Commander of the Region Tuscany and later of the Region Latium, strategic areas for the purposes of the Corps’ institutional missions. Furthermore, he served as Commander of the School of Inspectors and Superintendents in L’Aquila, which provides for the basic military and professional training of middle management Guardia di Finanza officers (that is the greatest share of the human resources). Moreover, at the Guardia di Finanza Headquarters he was Head of the Office of the Second- in-Command, Head of the Recruitment and Training Office as well as Head of the Office and Spokesman of the General Commander.
He was for three years Head of the 2nd Branch Analysis and International Relations at the Guardia di Finanza General Headquarters, a central branch responsible for intelligence, cooperation with foreign counterparts and link with the expert officers posted to Embassies and International Agencies.
He was Commander of the Central Aero Naval Command (2020/2022), responsible at the national level for giving guidelines, controlling and coordinating the aero naval units of the Guardia di Finanza in charge of fighting against tobacco smuggling, trafficking in drugs and human beings, illegal migration on the high seas.
Recently, as Interregional Commander of Southern Italy (May 2022/July 2023), with headquarters in Naples he was responsible for steering, controlling and coordinating the branches of the Guardia di Finanza, which – with about 10,000 militaries – operate in the regions of Campania, Apulia, Basilicata and Molise and in our country are in the frontline in the fight against economic and financial crimes.
He was President of the Assistance Fund of the Guardia di Finanza Officers (FAF), in the three-year period between July 2020 and July 2023. The Assistance Fund is a legally, economically and financially independent institution under the control of the Minister of the Economy and Finance, with insurance and social security purposes to the benefit of the Guardia di Finanza staff.
He is ex officio member of the General Council for the Fight against Organized Crime under art. 107 of the Code of Anti-Mafia Laws (Leg. Decree no. 159/2011).

Teaching and Scientific Activity

He held many courses on technical and professional matters at the Guardia di Finanza Academy, at the Tax Police School and at the School of Inspectors and Superintendents of the Guardia di Finanza; previously teacher of tax law at the Universities of Foggia, Bari and L’Aquila; he was speaker at conferences and lecturer at master courses on money laundering.
Since 2019 he has been contract professor in “Money Laundering and Economic Crimes” at the University of Tuscia in Viterbo.
He is author of several articles published in specialized journals and has many publications, including: “Elementi normativi internazionali e nazionali in materia di riciclaggio” (2010); “La geografia dei paradisi fiscali” (2017); “Le nuove regole antiriciclaggio” (2021); “Follow the money a trent’anni dall’uccisione di Giovanni Falcone. Le indagini finanziarie e patrimoniali 3.0” (2022); “Interrelazioni fra lotta all’evasione fiscale e contrasto al riciclaggio di denaro” (2022).

Decorations and Awards

The Lieutenant General was awarded many decorations, including: Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy; Gold Medal of Merit for Long Command: Gold Cross with one Star for Service Seniority; Mauritian Medal of Merit of Ten Lustra of Military Career; Gold Medal to the Merit of the Italian Red Cross; Certificate of Merit of the 3rd Class with Bronze Medal for Environmental Merits; “Honorary Citizenship of the City of L’Aquila” for his work in favor of the local community; FBI Certificate of Appreciation – U.S. Department of Justice; 31st “Premio Nazionale Paolo Borsellino”,  2023 for his commitment in combating organized crime.