Italian Authorities Seize €109,000 from Mafia-Linked Gambling Activities on German Tip-Off

Italian officials, acting on advice from their German counterparts, have seized €109,000 believed to be sourced from gambling activities connected to the mafia.

Italian police confiscated the cash from a 40-year-old Neapolitan man, as part of an ongoing investigation into “clandestine gambling” which had previously resulted in 33 arrests last year. The suspects had allegedly established an international network of companies to launder illicit funds.

At the time, the Carabinieri, with support from police in countries such as Panama and Romania, arrested 33 individuals accused of operating a highly profitable unlicensed betting ring. This ring was linked to the Camorra, an Italian mafia-type criminal organization originating from Campania, a region in southern Italy that includes Naples.

The suspect had deposited the €109,000 in a German bank account. Authorities suspect the funds were earned through online betting on illegal websites on behalf of various mafia groups. This activity prompted numerous suspicious transaction reports from the German FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit) to their counterparts at the Bank of Italy.

Following these reports, the cash was seized under a seizure order issued by the Court of Review of Salerno. In a statement, FIU Deutschland, the German FIU, hailed the operation as an example of “successful cooperation between the German and Italian FIUs,” leading to the seizure of assets linked to the Mafia.

“This shows the importance of the FIU-FIU cooperation and how careful analysis and rapid action by the German FIU can lead to success,” the organization stated on LinkedIn. “The perpetrator probably mistakenly thought that his assets were safe in Germany!”

Fanpage reported that the 40-year-old is accused of criminal association, aggravated by facilitating the mafia, and is currently on trial in Nocera Inferiore, a town in southern Italy near Naples.

This operation is the latest in a series of coordinated actions against a globally active money laundering criminal network related to Mafia gambling operations.

By fLEXI tEAM