Edited by Sergio Silvestri

A "shell company" dedicated to issuing false invoices in the building renovation sector has been identified by the Guardia di Finanza of Colleferro (Rome). A press release from the Guardia di Finanza reports the news: the invoices allowed companies – operating in Artena, Colleferro, Rocca Priora, San Cesario, Velletri,
Rome and the provinces of Teramo, Pisa, Naples, and Latina – to obtain tax benefits by accruing VAT credits to offset other tax and social security debts. During the operation to combat tax fraud, the Finance Police of the Rome Provincial Command seized property, cash, and company shares from 22 company directors. The owner of a company was also arrested, pursuant to a decree issued by the investigating judge of the Velletri Court at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office. The 22 individuals are being investigated for the alleged crime of issuing and using invoices for non-existent transactions, and pending final judgment, the presumption of innocence applies. The Guardia di Finanza emphasized that "the investigations also focused on the bank account transactions attributable to the individuals and companies involved in the fraudulent practice and shed full light on the methods used to return the (non-existent) invoices for the sums transferred to the issuer to the beneficiary companies, which were carried out in cash. Part of this money was hidden in fake wooden beams in the home of one of the suspects." The investigators also noted that despite the man being subject to a pre-trial detention order, "he had casually set up another company to continue the business."

The evidence gathered by the military, as explained in the Guardia di Finanza statement, allowed the Public Prosecutor's Office to obtain the preliminary investigations judge's order to issue a precautionary measure. The operation, the statement concludes, "is part of a broader effort by the judicial authorities and the Rome Guardia di Finanza to combat tax fraud that distorts market rules and harms honest citizens and entrepreneurs."

Source: https://www.gdf.gov.it/it