The Prevention Measures Section of the Court of Milan has ordered the judicial administration of a Milanese investment bank, Banca Progetto, for having granted financing, as ascertained by the investigations of the Economic and Financial Police Unit of the Gdf and the prosecutor Paolo Storari, to companies linked to the ‘Ndrangheta for over 10 million euros.
Financing is guaranteed by the fund for small and medium-sized enterprises, therefore ” state aid to support the economy in the Covid emergency” or “following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine”.
The analysis of the “bank files”, as stated in a note from the Milan prosecutor Marcello Viola, “has allowed us to ascertain how the intermediary”, namely Banca Progetto, ” often eluding the principles of anti-money laundering legislation, has provided loans backed by a state guarantee in favor of companies fully involved in criminal dynamics, as they were the object of the contestation of the crime of fraudulent transfer of assets, in some cases committed with the aggravating circumstance of the mafia method, consisting in the facilitation of the ‘Ndrangheta ‘locale’ of Legnano/Lonate Pozzolo”, province of Varese.
The investigations, conducted by the Gico of the Pef Nucleus of the Milanese Gdf and coordinated by the Dda, led by Marcello Viola and Alessandra Dolci, have highlighted ” several critical issues regarding the operations of the credit institution, concerning the dangers of its permeability to relationships with individuals investigated for serious crimes or recipients of personal/patrimonial preventive measures”. The judicial administration order, issued based on the “Anti-Mafia Code”, was executed today by the Guardia di Finanza And “it constitutes the result of broader investigations” aimed at “investigating the relationships between the financial institution and individuals linked to ‘Ndrangheta consortiums”.
It has been ascertained, explains the Prosecutor’s Office, “how several companies indirectly managed by subjects close to exponents” of the ‘Ndrangheta have “benefited over the years from financing provided” by Banca Progetto “with the assistance of state guarantees provided by the Central Guarantee Fund in favor of SMEs of Mediocredito Centrale (Law 662/1996), thus accessing state aid to support the economy in the Covid-19 emergency rather than following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine”.
‘The bank gave state money to the ‘Ndrangheta’
The “opaque and questionable” “modus operandi” of Banca Progetto Spa has in fact “transferred the risk of insolvency, which occurred, onto the State”, financing with state-guaranteed funds companies linked to the ‘Ndrangheta, and has determined “the paradox that the money flowing into the coffers of the criminal gang turns out to be of state origin”. This is what the judges of the Prevention Measures Section of the Court of Milan wrote in the judicial administration order of the Milanese business credit institution, speaking of “money”, over 10 million euros, “cannibalized” by the clans with “enormous profits”.
Earlier this year, Italian authorities conducted a sweeping raid targeting 142 individuals associated with the ‘Ndrangheta, the notorious Calabrian mafia. Among them, 109 were arrested, 20 were placed under house arrest, and 13 were subjected to other restrictive measures. Charges include involvement in “Ndranghetist association, drug trafficking, aggravated by the head of a mafia association,” and various other criminal offenses, as detailed in a police statement.
