(ANSA) - CATANIA, NOVEMBER 25 - Soldiers of the Guardia di Finanza of Catania and officials of the excise, customs and monopoly agency (Adm) of Sicily have seized assets worth 25 million euros from eight companies, two individual firms and thirteen suspects in the part of an investigation into an alleged fuel fraud.
The provision of the Gipetneo, issued at the request of the European Public Prosecutor's Office of Palermo, hypothesizes, for various reasons, the crimes of subtraction from the assessment or payment of excise duty on energy products, unfaithful and omitted tax returns, issuing invoices for non-existent operations.
The seizures were carried out in the provinces of Catania, Palermo, Enna, Catanzaro and Reggio Calabria.
the investigation,
carried out by the units of the public finance protection groups of the Pef unit of the Catania finance police and the regional anti-fraud operative of the Admha involved two distinct groups.
According to the indictment, they marketed petroleum products illegally introduced into the national territory for subsequent low-cost resale, evading VAT and excise duties, and sold diesel for agricultural use and unauthorized mixtures fraudulently intended for automotive use.
A first group would have illegally introduced into Italy large quantities of energy products from Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovenia formally addressed to two deposits in the province of Verona and Catania, but in fact destined for other Etna storage sites managed by the suspects and would then have sold to low cost fuel for road haulage companies and road distributors in Sicily.
The competitiveness of the prices charged would have been ensured by the evasion of taxes with invoices for non-existent transactions.
The second group, based in the Catania area, would have made substantial purchases of diesel for agricultural use and energy products "stretched" with poor quality waste oil in three warehouses in Reggio Calabria, Gioia Tauro and Palermo to then market them in Sicily without paying taxes.
During the investigations, over 125,000 liters of fuel of illicit origin were seized, in addition to the vehicles and equipment used for transport and storage.
(HANDLE).
