Italian financial police have seized luxurious items including Lamborghinis, Porsches, Rolexes, Cartier jewellery, cryptocurrencies, and luxury villas during the raids over an alleged $650m fraud.
22 arrests were made in a raid against a criminal organization suspected of a €600 million fraud involving NextGenerationEU funds. The arrests occurred in Italy, Austria, Romania, and Slovakia after an investigation by the EU prosecutor.
The fraud involved false balance sheets to receive non-repayable grants meant for small- and medium-sized companies. Around €600 million from Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan was transferred to bank accounts in Austria, Romania, and Slovakia.
The group utilized cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence, and offshore cloud servers to carry out and conceal the fraud, according to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO).
This seizure highlights concerns about misuse of EU’s recovery fund, with Italy being the largest beneficiary. Similar crackdowns on Covid-19 relief fraud have been observed in the United States.
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