A major operation by the Italian Guardia di Finanza, announced on 17 March 2025, has uncovered a sophisticated tax fraud system within the transport and logistics sector in Sicily. Under the coordination of the District Public Prosecutor’s Office in Catania, officers from the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza have executed a precautionary seizure of the corporate shares of six companies, along with assets amounting to a total of 4.6 million euros. The investigation has extended across the provinces of Catania, Palermo, Trapani, Caltanissetta, Messina, Ragusa and Agrigento, with support from local Guardia di Finanza units. The authorities have not disclosed the names of the companies or individuals under investigation.
The inquiry, led by the Economic and Financial Police Unit of Catania, has exposed a complex tax evasion scheme which, according to the investigators’ hypotheses, revolved around a parent company operating in logistics and road transport. This company, which benefited from outsourced labour, allegedly received services from businesses specifically created for this purpose, formally independent but in reality controlled by a single entity. The aim was to evade tax and social security obligations. The labour-providing firms, which were subsequently placed under judicial liquidation, accumulated substantial debts without ever paying taxes or contributions. Meanwhile, the parent company benefited from invoices for non-existent transactions, obtaining undue VAT deductions and artificially reducing labour costs.
According to investigative findings, between 2021 and 2023, false invoices amounting to a total of 25.6 million euros were issued. The fraud allegedly generated unwarranted VAT credits worth 4.6 million euros and led to the non-payment of tax and social security contributions amounting to 85 million euros. The main orchestrator of the scheme has been identified as the legal representative of the parent company, who is believed to have secretly managed the eleven companies involved, with the complicity of ten other individuals, including several ‘front men’ used to obscure the true ownership of the businesses.
The judicial authorities have charged the suspects with various offences, including fraudulent bankruptcy, issuing and using invoices for non-existent transactions, and filing false tax returns. In addition to the asset seizures, the Guardia di Finanza has conducted searches at the offices of the implicated companies, acquiring further evidence to support the allegations.
