Crest on the tax office of a Catania online betting company: two complaints

PALERMO – Violations of tax legislation for about 600 million euros were ascertained by the Financiers of the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza against a company in Catania, which operates in the online betting sector, in the course of an investigation that led to to the complaint of two people for failure to return income taxes.

The investigations concerned the tax years from 2013 to 2016 and were developed starting from the “Double game” operation which led, last February, to the execution of a precautionary custody order – ordered by the Gip of the Court of Catania, at the request of the local Public Prosecutor’s Office – against 23 suspects, for various reasons, for abusive gambling and betting, aggravated fraud, self-laundering, conducts aggravated by the purpose of favoring the interests of the “Santapaola-Ercolano” mafia clan, and to the seizure of approximately 80 million euros. The tax audit activity concerned a company incorporated under Maltese law which, without authorization, took care of betting collection activities, offering a wide range of “on-line” products, including sports betting, virtual games, live poker and lounges. from poker, skill games, 500 casino games and 4 live casinos. Investigators have ascertained that the operation of the company, managed by two Catania entrepreneurs, was in reality all centered on the national territory and, in particular, in Catania, where the largest collection of bets was ascertained. Consequently, the entire volume of bets collected in Italy thanks to “betting centers” was reconstructed, which – although formally constituted as sole proprietorships – operated under the direction of the two entrepreneurs. The huge profits were then made to flow into the accounts of the Maltese company and, from there, further recycled in the acquisition of land, buildings, companies in Italy and Germany. The two entrepreneurs – already in prison for the “Double Game” operation – were thus reported to the judicial authorities also for tax offenses. Furthermore, the investigations by the Catania Finance Police made it possible to ascertain that, in the same period, the company omitted the declaration of tax on betting for an amount of approximately 30 million euros.