Italian Finance Police: €2 million linked to the Brenta crime syndicate seized

A blow to the assets of the Brenta Mafia. Assets worth around 2 million euros have been confiscated. Officers from the Special Currency Police Unit, in conjunction with the provincial commands in Venice and Florence, have carried out the definitive confiscation of assets belonging to a person convicted of laundering illicit proceeds linked to Felice Maniero. The order covers properties, luxury cars, jewellery, paintings, financial assets, 15 luxury watches and 90,000 euros in cash.

As detailed in a press release from the Guardia di Finanza, the investigations – originally conducted by the Special Currency Police Unit – were triggered by statements made by Felice Maniero, the former head of the criminal organisation, and made it possible to trace the destination of the illicit proceeds from the offences committed by the mafia organisation. The investigations, carried out through bank enquiries, document analysis, technical investigations, in-depth economic and asset analyses to determine disproportionate income, international letters rogatory issued by the judicial authorities, the taking of preliminary statements from persons with knowledge of the facts, and on-site inspections, made it possible to confirm the statements made by the former head of the mafia organisation and to identify the illicit proceeds used to purchase immovable and movable property, including watches and luxury cars, as well as investment instruments traceable to Felice Maniero.

The investigation had concluded with the execution of a pre-trial detention order and the simultaneous seizure of property, financial assets, cars and luxury goods, in connection with the laundering of the illicit proceeds of the mafia organisation headed by Felice Maniero.

Consequently, following the final conviction, the Court of Venice ordered the confiscation of assets attributable to the convicted person and his relatives, comprising two properties situated in the provinces of Florence and Lucca, five cars, jewellery and valuable paintings placed under judicial administration, financial assets held in current accounts and the contents of safety deposit boxes at two banks in the province of Empoli (cash amounting to 90,000 euros and 15 luxury watches), with the total value of the assets subject to confiscation amounting to approximately 2 million euros.

The confiscation of illicit assets is an important means of combating economic and financial crime, but it also has a ‘social’ value, as it enables wealth accumulated over time by criminal organisations to be returned to the community.