The parallel convergences of the Global and 'Sabre' investigations

The investigations are in full swing even though pre-trial detention orders have already been executed. Both in Trento and Milan. Two investigations that intersect almost by chance. In a criminal jumble that reveals, on the one hand, all the difficulties faced by those who need to clean up the proceeds of crime, and on the other hand, those who make themselves available to do so, hiding other purposes: for example, defrauding their neighbours.

Thus, the Trentino investigation baptised 'Sciabolata' (a dandy gesture with which champagne is opened with a sharp slash to the neck of the bottle) intersects with the Milanese investigation on Global Group Consulting, a company blocked by the triple intervention of the Consob Magistracy and the Special Currency Police Unit. In the background, the pleasant ski resort of Andalo, Fai della Paganella and Molveno, epicentre of the Tridentine investigation, which has as its main object a flourishing and well-established cocaine market run by a family (the Agostini) well known to local hoteliers and restaurateurs.

But what leaks out from the papers of the investigation, conducted by the Trento Economic and Financial Police Nucleo, is above all the indispensable presence of professionals who provide the right channels to conceal the money. First and foremost, a Trentino insurance consultant, Steve Stinghel, who - according to the findings of the investigation - would have proactively contributed to the washing of the money by opening insurance policies of a financial nature with leading national operators, offering then to liquidate the positions according to the needs of the leaders of the organisation.

Between the two investigations, a connecting element stands out: Samuel Gatto, referent of the company Global Group Consulting, who is not under investigation in the Trento investigation but is in Milan. Gatto, who is only mentioned in the pre-trial detention order, in fact made available to the Agostini, the Trento and Pergine Valsugana offices of Global to 'store' the gold bars partly used to clean up the cash resulting from the coca trade.

Turning the cash into yellow metal was a well-known Trentino goldsmith from Lavis, ObrelliOro, on the market since 1929: it took 15 days to complete the job. At the end of which, on 8 April 2024, the ingots (worth EUR 121,541.32) were handed over by Claudio Agostini to Global's representative, Samuel Gatto. And he might not have done so eight months later. Yes, because on 27 December 2024, Milan's Gip Massimo Baraldo signed the order that almost landed Gatto in jail (he is still a fugitive), a dozen people under house arrest, and the seizure of EUR 22,934,861. And this is where the investigation by the Special Currency Police Unit of the Guardia di Finanza comes in. Yes, because what Global organised for the investigators was nothing more than a colossal scam staged through a pyramid carousel by Gatto and partners.