In Salerno

Illegal gambling, €25 million turnover uncovered across Italy

According to the investigation, coordinated by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Salerno and entrusted to the Carabinieri, illegal totems were supplied to 'countless traders throughout Italy'

by Lorenzo Pace

4 December 2025

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Illegal online gaming and betting collection and issuing invoices for non-existent transactions, but also money laundering, self-laundering and fraudulent transfer of values. These are the offences charged against Domenico Chiavazzo, Paolo Memoli and Giovanni Petruzzellis, who are considered - in the investigation coordinated by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Salerno - the organisers of an online gambling crime syndicate

The provisions of the gip

For the first two subjects, the carabinieri of the Salerno Investigative Unit executed the cautionary measure in prison order. For Petruzzellis, on the other hand, the Salerno court gip ordered house arrest.

The order also orders the seizure from Chiavazzo and 14 other suspects of the companies 'traceable to the head promoter, luxury cars, various properties - including 17 company buildings, business premises, luxury flats and three plots of land - and one and a half million euro'.

The links with the Casalesi

For illegal online gambling, "the existence of indications of the aggravating circumstance under Article 416 bis. 1 Criminal Code for having facilitated the Casalesi" clan of Caserta, in particular, the "Schiavone faction".

The investigators' reconstruction

According to investigators, everything revolved around totems, i.e. gambling machines found mainly in bars, which created an illegal system, parallel to the devices provided by the Customs and Monopolies Agency. They were allegedly supplied to 'countless operators of commercial activities throughout the country'.

Here would have emerged the role of Petruzzellis, i.e. the 'technician' of the organisation, capable of creating the 'sophisticated online gaming system called 'Lireservice''.

A 25 million euro turnover

In this way, all 'stakes' were surpassed: no limit on betting and no tax paid to the State. The deputy prosecutor of Salerno, Rocco Alfano, spoke of an evasion of EUR 3.2 million. It must be considered, however, that the calculation of the unpaid taxes is proportionate to a turnover - of 25 million euro - that, in order, would hardly have been reached because of the limits on betting.

The computers, according to the investigation, were 'networked to a mother platform operated by the suspects'. The totems, on the other hand, were 'capable of directing large sums of money to the organisation by circumventing controls and in violation of legal limits on bets and winnings'.

At the same time, 'the organisation set up a complex system of companies used as a tool to launder and reuse large financial endowments, including in the real estate sector, and made use of paper companies and front men'.