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Financial crimes, waste in public sector cost Italy 2.3 bln euros in 2016: report

Xinhua, June 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

Financial and fiscal crimes, and waste in the public sector, cost Italy over 2.3 billion euros (2.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the first five months of 2016, Italian police said on Tuesday.

Some 3,300 people who evaded their taxes totally were uncovered from January to May in 2016, and assets worth 300 million euros (339 million U.S. dollars)were seized from them, the police report said.

Overall, the Italian finance police discovered some 840 "phantom companies" created to disguise profits and avoid tax obligations.

Of the total amount, 360 millions euros (406 million U.S. dollars) were domestic and European Union (EU) funds illegally drawn, the report said.

Latest data was unveiled in a preliminary report released by the Guardia di Finanza (GdF) -- Italian finance police.

According to the report, some 1,850 people were also charged with crimes against the public administration, of which 118 were put into jail.

"Corruption and economic crime are complex and interdependent phenomena, which are able to hit and pollute the economic fabric and the financial system," Italian Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said at the event.

Investigating and countering financial crime would require police to join forces more at the international level, police officials said.

"We need to further widen our efforts," GdF chief General Commander Giorgio Toschi said. "Our investigative approach must be increasingly based on international cooperation among police forces, and a swift information exchange among countries."

In countering the illegal business of Italian mafia groups, the financial police seized 1.3 billion euros (1.47 billion U.S. dollars) in various assets, which included 220 companies.

About 1,000 people were denounced for alleged money laundering in connection with the mafia, and some 300 others for alleged self-laundering, which has been deemed a crime in Italy since late 2014 to strengthen anti-mafia legislation.

The GdF also arrested 33 human smugglers during rescue operations to save migrants and refugees across the Mediterranean Sea, the report said. Endite