Ceva Logistics’ Italian subsidiary is once again under investigation by the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office over alleged tax irregularities and unlawful labour supply practices. On 27 February 2026, magistrates ordered a preventive seizure exceeding €27.3 million, carried out between 2 and 3 March by the Nucleo di polizia economico-finanziaria della Guardia di Finanza di Milano (Economic and Financial Police Unit of the Milan Financial Police). The measure concerns Ceva Logistics Italia and Ceva Ground Logistics Italy. The alleged offence is fraudulent tax declaration through the use of invoices for non-existent transactions, within a system of contracts considered to be simulated and allegedly designed to conceal irregular labour supply in the logistics sector.
The period under investigation covers the tax years from 2020 to 2024. According to prosecutors, the companies allegedly relied on a network of cooperatives and contracting firms described as “labour reservoirs”, formally holding service contracts for handling, porterage and warehouse operations management. In the Prosecutor’s reconstruction, these entities reportedly had a limited organisational structure and often operated for short periods, acting as intermediaries in the management of staff employed at logistics sites.
The mechanism under scrutiny presupposes that the contractors issued invoices in connection with contracts deemed legally non-existent. In this way, the client company was allegedly able to deduct costs and reclaim VAT, while the supply of labour would in practice have taken place directly, circumventing tax, social security and employment regulations. The seizure by equivalent is calculated on the basis of the alleged profit deriving from the contested system. At the same time as the seizure, officers carried out local and IT searches at several premises across Italy to obtain contractual, accounting and digital documentation relating to service providers and workforce management arrangements.
The operation marks a further development in the line of investigations launched in recent years by the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office into the logistics sector, particularly in the southern hinterland of the Lombardy capital. In recent years, similar measures have involved other major operators, with significant seizures based on schemes considered comparable: multi-layered contracting chains, cooperatives with limited capitalisation and frequent rotation of the legal entities involved.
Ceva Logistics itself was involved in 2019, when the Tribunal of Milan ordered the judicial administration of the Contract Logistics division of Ceva Logistics Italia as part of the investigation into the Premium Net consortium, which managed the Stradella platform in the province of Pavia. During 2020, the Tribunal of Milan lifted the measure ahead of schedule, acknowledging the company’s significant cooperation and structural intervention in its contracting chain. In the closing order, Ceva was cited as an example of supply chain reorganisation in a context marked by widespread critical issues in the sector.
The central issue remains the distinction between a genuine contract and unlawful labour supply. In the first case, the contractor independently organises resources and personnel, assuming business risk; in the second, staff operate under the client’s managerial and organisational authority, constituting a labour supply arrangement that requires specific legal requirements and authorisations. The classification of the relationship affects both tax aspects, in terms of VAT and cost deductibility, and social security and pay obligations, with potential liabilities for the client company.
P.R.
