Edited by Sergio Silvestri

In recent days, in Rome, officers from the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza (Financial Police) executed a house arrest order against a Roman businessman, "serious suspects of self-laundering and tax omission." Furthermore, a statement from the Guardia di Finanza states, a precautionary seizure order was issued for assets valued at approximately €11.4 million and the shares of 17 companies. Subsequent investigations "have revealed serious circumstantial evidence of the systematic 'reinvestment' of significant sums of VAT omissions to gain control and management of a football club (the latter not subject to the precautionary measure issued by the judicial authorities), of which the same individual under investigation is president." The Guardia di Finanza emphasizes that "the measures were issued during the preliminary investigation phase, based on the current state of evidence and, pending a final judgment, the presumption of innocence exists."

In total, the companies included in the seizure employ over 1700 people, and a judicial administrator will oversee their management. The investigations by the Economic and Financial Police Unit, delegated by the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office, focused on the financial flows between the companies linked to the suspect. The core business of these companies is the supply and management of personnel for companies located throughout the country and operating in various sectors, from catering to hotel services, from cleaning to porterage. In collaboration with the National Labor Inspectorate, the Guardia di Finanza (Financial Police) discovered the operation of a staff leasing business, carried out under the "scheme of a fictitious service contract and the self-financing of the business through the systematic failure to pay taxes, particularly VAT and withholdings, as well as employee contributions. In this context, the individual had already been the recipient, in 2021, of a preventive seizure order issued by the investigating judge of the Court of Rome for nearly €7 million."