'Ndrangheta, assets worth 400 million confiscated from entrepreneur

Assets worth approximately 400 million euros attributable to an entrepreneur operating in the online gaming and betting sector were confiscated by the financiers of the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza of Reggio Calabria and of the Scico of Rome, with the coordination of the Reggio Calabria DDA, in execution of a provision issued by the Prevention Measures Section of the Court of Reggio Calabria.
The capital measure concerns corporate assets, trusts and financial resources in Calabria, Puglia and Abruzzo.
The criminal figure of the entrepreneur had emerged in the Galassia operation against the 'Ndrangheta.

The investigation by the Reggio Calabria DDA, directed by Giovanni Bombardieri, aimed at combating the infiltration of the 'Ndrangheta in the online gaming and betting sector, would have made it possible to discover the existence of a sophisticated and highly profitable criminal system, aimed at illicit collection of bets, with a decision-making and operational base in Reggio Calabria and ramifications also in Malta, Romania, Austria and Spain. The companies in question would have acted through a "cascade" earning system, from the master, top of the pyramid and promoter of the organization, to the end user, the final player.

Furthermore, links with the 'ndrangheta would have emerged, to which a part of the proceeds would have been guaranteed in exchange for protection and diffusion of the brand online and in local businesses. The entrepreneur, who was also subjected to special surveillance for the duration of two years and 6 months, with obligation of residence, based on what emerged, would be the real dominus of a company with registered office in Malta, but in fact operating in Italy through a permanent establishment with multiple commercial points, distributed throughout the territory and dedicated to collecting bets on games and betting.
The confiscation concerns the entire corporate portfolio of 3 companies operating in the online gaming and betting sector, two trusts rooted in Malta including their respective financial portfolios, as well as banking, financial and insurance relationships and related assets, for a total value estimated at approximately 400 million euros.