Mario Adinolfi arrested on charges of fraud and tax evasion
The journalist and leader of the Popolo della Famiglia party has been under house arrest since this morning
Fraud and tax evasion. These are the offences with which Mario Adinolfi, journalist and leader of the Popolo della Famiglia party, has been charged; he has been under house arrest since this morning at the request of the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office. The measure was enforced by the Guardia di Finanza. The investigation centres on the so-called ‘collective betting scheme’, a network for raising funds from private individuals who were promised returns linked to sports betting. The suspect is also accused of alleged tax evasion amounting to 400,000 euros.
Adinolfi is also accused of unlawfully collecting savings and of financial malpractice. The investigations – conducted by officers from the Judicial Police Section of the Guardia di Finanza and the Economic Crime Unit – began following a series of complaints lodged by individuals who had entrusted sums of money to the suspect in the belief that they were participating in a “Betting Group”, known as “Scommessa Collettiva”, which was conceived and promoted via social media.
“The scheme,” explains a statement, “attracted a considerable number of customers who, due to the perceived reliability of its creator and promoter, the promise of high and guaranteed returns in percentage terms far exceeding the rates offered on the financial market, the use of so-called infallible algorithms and betting strategies – were persuaded to hand over substantial sums of money (even exceeding 100,000 euros per victim) to purchase ‘shares’ in the scheme, without receiving (either in full or in part) a refund of the sums paid or the promised return’.
An analysis of the financial transactions on the suspect’s current accounts over the last five years has “revealed that over 4.7 million euros had been collected. Only a portion of these sums was found to be linked to sports betting activities, whilst the majority of the funds received is believed to have been allocated to various purposes, including transfers to third parties and the payment of personal expenses for the purchase of luxury goods such as watches, bullion and foreign coins, paintings, boats and payments for travel’, concludes the Gdf.
