Italy seizes $164 million from businessmen allegedly tied to 'Ndrangheta mafia
MILAN, June 26 (Reuters) - An Italian court has confiscated assets in Italy and Germany worth over 140 million euros ($164 million) from five men active in the oil distribution industry who are accused of tax fraud and links to the 'Ndrangheta, tax police said on Thursday.
Guardia di Finanza police (Gdf) in the southern city of Reggio Calabria said the five Italian businessmen allegedly "managed the entire distribution chain of oil products from the warehouse to the final roadside retailers, interposing several companies with the aim of systematically evading taxes."
The unnamed five are alleged to have links with, and in some cases to be members of, 'Ndrangheta clans, with the task of laundering the profits from criminal activities through their business activities, the Gdf said in a statement.
As a result, a court in Reggio Calabria seized 79 properties and 85 vehicles in various parts of Italy, 28 wholesale petroleum product companies, three of which are based in Germany, a farm and a real estate company plus four luxury watches and a million euros in cash.
The total estimated value of the seized assets exceeds 140 million euros.
Originally from the poor southern region of Calabria, the 'Ndrangheta has evolved into Italy's most powerful mafia organisation, and has spread across Europe and the rest of the world, penetrating into so-called white-collar crime.
The national anti-mafia agency (DIA) said last month in its annual report that Italy's mafia is turning away from violent turf wars to collaborate in drug trafficking, prostitution rings and money laundering.
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