The operation

Major retail fraud: ghost cooperatives, fake contracts and 166 million false invoices

The Guardia di Finanza, under delegation of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Northern Naples, executed seizures of more than 30 million. 29 people and companies are under investigation. Employees under the slap: hired by ghost cooperatives but directed by the client

by Rome Editorial Staff

28 April 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The mechanism: sham tenders and ghost cooperatives
VAT used to pay for labour costs
Cooperatives with no head office, no assets and run by nominees
The single director and accounting tricks
Commissioning company reprimand

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

A EUR 166 million tax fraud in invoices believed to be false. A total preventive seizure of over 30 million. Twenty-nine suspects, including individuals and companies. This is the picture that emerged from the operation conducted by the Nucleo di polizia economico-finanziaria of the Guardia di finanza of Naples, as part of an investigation coordinated by the North Naples Public Prosecutor's Office.

At the centre of the investigation is the large-scale retail sector. According to the investigative hypothesis, the system was allegedly built on a network of simulated contracts, consortia with no real entrepreneurial structure, and cooperatives created to disguise an illegal supply of labour.

According to investigators, the fraud concerned logistics and goods handling services within a distribution centre in the Aversa Nord industrial area.

The mechanism: simulated contracts and ghost cooperatives

The scheme reconstructed by the Guardia di Finanza consisted of several levels. A commissioning company, indicated as the beneficiary of the fraud, formally entrusted logistics services to two consortia. Those consortia, however, were said to have no real organisational structure. In turn, they relied on 18 specially established cooperatives.

It was these cooperatives that formally employed the workers. But, according to the prosecution, the actual management of the workforce was in the hands of the commissioning company.

The crux of the matter is precisely this: what appeared on paper to be a service contract was in essence an illegal supply of labour.

The workers were employed in the distribution centre and operated, according to the investigators, under the direction and control of the client. The company allegedly managed the activities through advanced computer systems, which were able to issue operational instructions and monitor the work of the employees in real time.

An element considered decisive by the investigators, because it would indicate the concrete exercise of typical employer powers.

VAT used to pay labour costs

The heart of the tax fraud, according to the investigative reconstruction, was the non-payment of VAT by the cooperatives since their establishment.

The sums collected were not used to pay the tax, but almost exclusively for salaries and personnel costs. In this way, the VAT effectively became a lever to finance labour costs. The result, according to the prosecution, was unlawful savings for the commissioning company and direct damage to the Treasury.

The invoices issued by the consortia are considered non-existent in two respects: subjective and legal. Subjective, because they were allegedly issued by parties other than the real suppliers of the labour.

Legal, because they referred to subcontracting contracts that, according to the investigators, were simulated and served to disguise an impermissible supply of labour. The client company would then deduct that VAT in full, obtaining an undue tax advantage.

Cooperatives without headquarters, without assets and run by nominees

The investigation, which was conducted with the cooperation of the Contrasto Illeciti sector of the Internal Revenue Service, covers the tax years 2019 to 2025. According to the reconstruction, the cooperatives had no real entrepreneurial autonomy. They were found to be non-existent at the declared locations, without utilities, without assets, and administered by nominees. Not only that.

Tax and corporate compliance would be taken care of by the same professionals, confirming, according to the investigators, the existence of a unitary management. The system also involved the 'en bloc' transfer of workers from one cooperative to another. When tax debts accumulated, the cooperative would be replaced. The workers would pass to the next company and the activity would continue without interruption. A functional rotation, according to the prosecution, to leave the tax debts behind and to guarantee operational continuity for the chain.

The Single Directorate and Accounting Artifices

Investigators believe they have identified a centralised management behind the system of consortia and cooperatives. According to the prosecution hypothesis, the structure was also supported by accounting tricks aimed at concealing losses, recording fictitious revenues, and underestimating debts to the tax authorities. The overall picture drawn by the investigation is that of a system organised to lower the cost of labour, reduce the tax burden, and keep the work active through companies that were formally autonomous, but considered to have no real entrepreneurial substance.

Commissioning company's repentance

During the investigation, the client company regularised its position for the tax years 2019 to 2024. The company filed supplementary declarations and paid taxes of EUR 14,413,269.45, plus interest and penalties of EUR 6,229,864.91.

Also for this reason, the preventive seizure carried out against the other parties involved was limited to EUR 14,564,502.67. All companies were also charged with the administrative liability of entities under Legislative Decree 231 of 2001.