Bonus casa, wave of seizures throughout Italy. 1 billion credits frozen

Ghost companies, non-existent properties, beneficiaries unknown to the IRS, and often citizenship income recipients. And two benefits in the crosshairs: the ecobonus and the facade bonus. These are some of the ingredients of the investigation carried out by the financiers of the Provincial Command of Savona that led the Gip, at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Savona, to issue a preventive seizure order for the amount of one billion euro, to be executed on the tax drawers of the 311 economic subjects involved, holders of the tax credits in ten regions throughout Italy.

The investigations were conducted, as is always the case in these cases, in coordination with officials from the Inland Revenue Agency. The investigations led to the discovery that the tax credits were completely non-existent, because they were obtained through the use of false invoices for works to be carried out or in progress on properties owned by persons resident in the Savona area. A classic scheme for this type of offence.

Thus, the investigation widened and led to the discovery that the fraud perpetrated by the companies operating in the province had been replicated nationwide by other companies in the sector. These were real phantom companies, unknown to the tax authorities or with insubstantial turnover, 'lacking real estate to which they could associate the construction work aimed at obtaining the facilitation in question as well as active/liable invoices aimed at proving the actual execution of the work'. In essence, therefore, the operations existed only on paper.

Looking at the subjects involved, some were found to be recipients of citizenship income, others 'burdened with specific criminal records, including offences in the area of public spending', and still others had generated and accepted credits with subjects with whom they had a family relationship (husband/wife, mother/son). Again, these are typical cross-breeds in this type of transaction.

Finally, some of the companies that had generated fictitious credits had themselves purchased credits, 'as in the case of a person who had purchased credits as a natural person from a company he represented'. All these crossings made the reconstruction of the chain of steps more complex. One part of the persons involved had already unduly offset bonuses, 'achieving illicit and appreciable tax advantages', while another had purchased blocks of fictitious credits with a nominal value of hundreds of millions of euro 'for a derisory consideration actually paid'.